COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Sophomore Dajour Braxton paced the Tigers’ effort with a third-place finish in the Texas A&M Cross Country Invitational Saturday morning. This was Braxton’s third consecutive meet finishing third individually. Freshman Ruby Stauber led the women’s team crossing in 15th place.
The men’s team had three top-50 finishers, good enough to give the Tigers 171 points and a sixth-place team finish. Stauber was the lone top-50 finisher for the Lady Tigers, and they earned a seventh-place team finish with 214 points.
Braxton crossed with a time of 24 minutes, 18.7 seconds, less than 30 seconds behind Brian Barraza from UNA-Houston who placed first individually for the men’s side. The two other Tigers who finished in the top-50 were senior Christian Johnson and freshman Harrison Martingayle who individually finished in 41st and 46th place respectively. Johnson crossed with a time of 25:41.5, and Martingayle finished with a time of 25:46.7.
Senior Blair Henderson and junior Jack Wilkes were the fourth and fifth Tigers to finish. Henderson finished in 54th place with a time of 26:01.6, and Wilkes recorded a time of 26:23.1 earning 69th place. Finishing after Henderson and Wilkes was freshman Alex Harp who placed 79th with a time of 26:36.9.
Rounding out the men’s team were juniors DC Lipani and Bryan Stamey. Lipani recorded a time of 26:48.0, and Stamey at 26:55.0. Lipani and Stamey earned 88th and 93rd place respectively.
For the women’s team, Stauber recorded a time of 21:31.7, less than two minutes behind the women’s individual winner, Karis Jochen from host Texas A&M. The second Lady Tiger to finish was sophomore Hollie Parker. Parker finished with a time of 22:30.6 to earn 51st place.
Finishing back-to-back in 57th and 58th place was sophomore Hannah Bourque and junior Rebecca Little. Bourque and Little recorded times of 22:44.7 and 22:46.6 respectively. The fifth Lady Tiger to finish was 68th-place recipient, senior Jenna Walker. Walker finished with a time of 22:58.6.
The Lady Tigers ended the meet with senior Ashley Welborn, sophomore Erika Lewis and junior Ellen Barkemeyer. The three women finished in 82nd, 84th and 90th place respectively. Welborn recorded a time of 23:19.2, and Lewis crossed the finish with a time of 23:24.2. Barkemeyer ended with a time of 23:31.5.
Head Coach Khadevis Robinson was pleased with some individual finishes, but also believes more of a team effort is needed.
“Today we had some good performances and beat some teams in our region,” Robinson said. “Dajour (Braxton) and Ruby (Stauber) ran really well. I have to figure out how to get everyone to have good performances all on the same day.”
Next weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will head to Tuscaloosa where they will both compete in the Crimson Classic on Friday, Oct. 14. The meet will be at Harry Pritchett RC, and the women will kickoff the meet at 5:00 p.m. CT. The men will begin shortly after at 5:30 p.m. CT.
For the latest information on LSU’s men’s and women’s cross country teams, fans can follow the Tigers and Lady Tigers on Twitter @LSUTrackField and on Facebook by liking LSU Track & Field.