FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The LSU women’s cross-country finished runner-up at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Friday to earn the first auto-bid to the national meet in program history.
A couple weeks removed from a historical finish for the women at the SEC Championships, they followed it up by breaking even more barriers for the program.
“I think we competed really well today,” said Coach Houston Franks. “I mean, we had a clear-cut plan and we executed it well.”
The runner-up finish for the Tigers marked the first time in 46 years of LSU women’s cross country, the team had auto-qualified for the NCAA Championships with their top-two finish. LSU totaled 86 points to finish second behind a Texas A&M team that totaled 71 through the 6k race.
“We have a little bit more left in the tank. I don’t think everybody ran their very best yet, but some people really stepped up and it was a great outcome.”
Statistically speaking, the NCAA Cross Country Championship is one of the hardest national meets to make with only 32 out of around 350 women’s programs in the country going. That is only a 9% chance of going, whether automatically or at-large, with only a 5% chance of schools advancing by finishing top two in their region.
The Tigers led throughout the first half of the race with Texas A&M, Tulane and Arkansas all hot on their tails. A large part of the success came from LSU’s youthfulness, with the four top finishers for the Tigers being underclassmen.
Sophomore Yuya Sawada led LSU to the finish line with a fifth-overall finish and a time of 19:56.7. For the sake of comparison, the Japanese star finished 76th overall at the regional last season with a time of 21:20.8, moving up 71 total spots. Her fifth-place finish is second best in program history behind her current teammate Ella Chesnut. It was also the second time Sawada has gone under the 20-minute barrier this season, which she had not gone under the 21-minute barrier once last season.
The second Tiger through the line was freshman Abigael Chemnagei, clocking in at 20:22.8 to finish 11th overall. Her finish ranks fourth in LSU history by placement and sixth overall by individual. Chemnagei sat in the 10-11 spots throughout the whole race in her first NCAA regional.
Sophomore Edna Chepkemoi got her first taste of NCAA postseason in cross country after finishing as an All-American in track this past season. Chepkemoi stayed inside the top 20 throughout the whole race, sitting as high as fourth through the first 1.6k, and finished 15th overall with a time of 20:29.4 to fill the third spot for the Tigers.
The fourth spot was filled by another freshman for LSU as Micaela Villarreal finished 20th overall with a time of 20:47.2. The San Antonio, Texas, native has made a killing this year for LSU, scoring in all five meets she’s competed in.
Closing the scorers for the history-making group was senior Ella Chesnut, who finished in 36th with a time of 21:27.0. Fitting that the first distance runner in LSU history to go to multiple NCAA Championships for cross country is a Louisiana native.
“We’ve been so close the last few years. Last year we graduated six of our top eight runners and on paper it looked like a little bit of a rebuilding year for us. People just stepped up and it’s the best team we’ve ever had.”
The top-25 finishers from regional meets are recognized as All-Region members by USTFCCCA. The four Tigers to earn this honor were Sawada, Chemnagei, Chepkemoi and Villarreal. This is all four Tigers first time earning the honor.
The men’s side was a fight for individual finishes as they only brought four Tigers to the regional meet. Sophomore Emedy Kiplimo led the way and finished 20th overall with a 10k personal-best time of 30:28.4. Kiplimo earned All-Region honors for his top-25 finish.
LSU’s women will close out the season on Friday, November 22, when the Tigers travel to Columbia, Mo., for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Results – NCAA South Central Regional Championships
Women’s Team Scores
1. Texas A&M – 71 pts (AQ)
2. LSU – 86 pts (AQ)
3. Tulane – 108 pts
4. Arkansas – 127 pts
5. SMU – 141 pts
6. Texas A&M-CC – 179 pts
7. Stephen F. Austin – 192 pts
8. Texas – 204 pts
9. Rice – 238 pts
10. UT-Arlington – 294 pts
LSU Women’s 6k Times
5. Yuya Sawada – 19:56.7 (5 pts)
11. Abigael Chemnagei – 20:22.8 (11 pts)
15. Edna Chepkemoi – 20:29.4 (15 pts)
20. Micaela Villarreal – 20:47.2 (20 pts)
36. Ella Chesnut – 21:27.0 (35 pts)
64. Ahry Comer – 22:10.2
110. Svenya Stoyanoff – 22:53.5
Men’s Team Scores
1. Tulane – 44 pts
2. Arkansas – 46 pts
3. Texas A&M – 83 pts
4. Stephen F. Austin – 112 pts
5. Texas – 118 pts
6. Texas A&M-CC – 183 pts
7. TCU – 201 pts
8. Rice – 279 pts
9. Incarnate Word – 295 pts
10. UT-Arlington – 318 pts
NTS – LSU
LSU Men’s 10k Times
19. Emedy Kiplimo – 30:28.4
77. Trenton Sandler – 32:12.7
92. Casey Goetschel – 32:41.0
111. Hugh Carlson – 33:12.5
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