Fayetteville, Ark. – The LSU men’s cross country team registered its best team performance at the NCAA South Central Regionals since 2008 on Friday morning at Agri Park in Fayetteville, Ark. The men’s team came away with an eighth-place finish with a team score of 246 points. The women’s squad finished in 12th place with a total team score of 354 points.
“Today I was really pleased with how we competed”, said LSU head coach Houston Franks. “We had three athletes be named to the All-Region team and several others had breakthrough performances. The men just keep grinding and have learned to compete with a lot of toughness and courage. It is a young group and the future is very bright.,
“The women’s team today was much more aggressive and I really liked seeing that. Both sides have gotten so much better this fall and cross country is heading in a great direction. It was a good fall and now we get a little rest until we start getting ready for track season.”
The men’s squad finished the day in Fayetteville with the 10k race, which is the first time this year that LSU has competed in that distance. Their performance is the best finish LSU has had at regionals since the 2008 team that finished in seventh place. For the fifth consecutive meet, Eric Coston was the first Tiger to cross the finish line. Coston set a PR in the 10k with a time of 30:43.9 which was good enough for a 16th place finish. This performance is Coston’s best finish at regionals yet. Davis Bove finished right after Coston as he finished in 17th place with a time of 30:51.6. The freshman has been a top three finisher for the Tigers in all five meets he’s competed in this season. Sophomore Blake Baldassaro was the next runner to cross the finish line for LSU as he came in 47th place with a time of 31:39.0. Baldassaro has proven to a very consistent runner for the Tigers as he has scored in each of the last four meets. Rounding out the scoring performances were Thomas Laville Jr. (32:40.7) and Cade Martin (32:46.0) who finished in 87th and 95th places respectively. Both Coston and Bove earned the honor of being named to the South-Central All-Region Team with their impressive performances on Friday.
The women’s team was the first group to run on Friday morning as they ran in a 6k race for the third consecutive meet. Once again, Katy-Ann McDonald was the top finisher for the Tigers which extends her streak to five straight top finishes for LSU. McDonald finished in 14th place with a time of 21:27.7 which is the fourth-best regional finish by an individual in LSU program history. McDonald also became the first LSU female runner to be named to the South-Central All-Region Team since Morgan Schuetz earned that distinction in 2015. Alicia Stamey was the next Tiger to finish as she crossed the finish line with a time of 22:21.4. Stamey’s performance was her best finish at regionals in her collegiate career as she improved upon last year’s 67th place finish. Adele Broussard capped off her impressive freshman season with another scoring performance. Broussard crossed the finish line in 82nd place with a time of 23:13.7. Following Broussard was junior runner Amber Desselle who ran through the chute with a time of 23:58.8 and finished in 112th place. Jennifer Bennett added to her scoring performances this season as she scored for the third time this season with a 115th place finish and a time of 23:59.6.
Women’s Results – 6k
Team Scores – 12th (354 points)
14. Katy-Ann McDonald – 21:27.7
42. Alicia Stamey – 22:21.4
82. Adele Broussard – 23:13.7
112. Amber Desselle – 23:53.8
115. Jennifer Bennett – 23:59.6
131. Lauren Hendry – 24:44.0
DNF. Sara Funderburk
Men’s Results – 10k
Team Scores – 8th (246 Points)
16. Eric Coston. – 30:43.9
17. Davis Bove – 30:51.6
47. Blake Baldassaro. – 31:39.0
87. Thomas Laville Jr. – 32:40.7
95. Cade Martin – 32:46.0
153. George Femmer – 38:23.1