BATON ROUGE, La. – Southeastern Louisiana cross country head coach Rocky Capello had a good feeling about his squad going into Saturday's LSU Invitational at Highland Road Park.

    The Lions proved Capello's feelings right, edging out Southland Conference rival McNeese, 41-43, for the team title in the men's 6K.

    "I had a feeling we might be able to win this week," Capello said. "Tulane and McNeese are both ranked in regionals but I've seen my guys' workouts. They just looked good the past two weeks since the UNO meet so I had a really, really good feeling that we would run really well this meet and we did. My prediction was McNeese would win conference and I now they will keep getting better but if we keep improving, then the conference meet is going to be exciting."

    It was Southeastern's first team victory in a non-relay event since the Louisiana Army National Guard/ROTC Loyola Wolfpack Invitational in 2014.

    Host LSU finished third with 62 points and was followed by Tulane (75), New Orleans (156), Southern (167), Loyola-New Orleans (177), Nicholls (247), Xavier-Louisiana (248) and Alcorn State (258).

    Southeastern placed three runners in the top five and five in the top 20 scoring places. Freshman Adam Cortez took second for the second straight meet, finishing in 17:15.7. Freshman Anthony Cordero also had a second-straight top-10 finish, placing third in 17:16.3, while sophomore Grant O'Callaghan was fifth in 17:28.1. Junior Brett Olivier added an 11^th-place finish in 17:46.4, while sophomore Bryant White was 20^th in scoring and 21^st overall in 18:24.3.

    Freshman Reed Callegan finished 27^th, junior Tajh Lewis 56^th, freshman Jonathan Respress 61^st and freshman Logan Thibodeaux 62^nd.

    The Lady Lions came in fourth in the women's 5K with 104 points, finishing behind Tulane (22), LSU (53) and McNeese (74). Loyola-New Orleans was fifth with 165 and was followed by Nicholls (170), Xavier-Louisiana (183) and Alcorn State (196).

    Freshman Tara Stuntz had her second straight top-10 finish, coming in ninth in 19:20.9. Fellow freshman Sophie Daigle was 12^th in 20:06.2. Freshman Breanna Bernard took 21^st (20:07.9), Lindsey Hutcheson 44^th (20:31.7) and Lydia Pevey 47^th (21:06.9). Sophomore Lill-Ann Hochkeppler placed 50^th and freshman Lorraine Weiskopf 63^rd (23:26.1).

    "I thought that the women's team killed it," Capello said. "We have a small women's team and that is the best they've ever run. They did amazing and have come a long way from the UNO meet."
 
NOTES
   The Southeastern men have not finished lower than fourth at the LSU Invitational since 2012. The Lions came in second behind LSU in 2014. They were fourth in 2016.
 
   Olivier, White and Daigle all finished in the top 20 for the second straight meet.
 
   McNeese's Brian Flanagan captured the men's individual title in 17:09.9.
 
   Tulane's Emma Newton won the women's race in 18:52.3.
 
QUOTES                                                           
Southeastern head coach Rocky Capello:
On what he told the team following the New Orleans Invitational:
   "I told them they ran well but we had some improvements to do and we had a couple of guys who didn't run. I told them the next two weeks of training would be huge in determining how we would do here, but more importantly, how we would do next week at Texas A&M. I told them to keep doing their workouts at the right pace, recover right and we're going to keep getting better and better."
 
Southeastern freshman Adam Cortez:
   "Individually it was great, but the team just did absolutely amazing. I can't even put it into words. We talked about doing that. Throughout the year, we walked about beating McNeese and really establishing that culture and do it in our first meet as a unit, it's amazing."
 
UP NEXT
   Southeastern will visit Texas A&M and former head coach Sean Brady next Saturday at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas.
 
LSU INVITATIONAL
at Highland Road Park
Saturday
Men's Scores
1. Southeastern La.                  41
2. McNeese                                43
3. LSU                                        62
4. Tulane                                     75
5. New Orleans                         156
6. Southern                               167
7. Loyola-New Orleans             177
8. Nicholls                                 247
9. Xavier-Louisiana                   248
10. Alcorn State                        258
 
Top 10 Finishers
1. Brian Flanagan, McNeese 17:09.9
2. Adam Cortez, SLU       17:15.7
3. Anthony Cordero, SLU 17:16.3
4. Moses Aloiloi, Tulane      17:24.0
5. Grant O'Callaghan, SLU 17:28.1
6. Luke Horgan, McNeese  17:33.5
7. Dajour Braxton, LSU      17:34.0
8. Niall Holt, McNeese        17:34.3
9. Harrison Martingayle, LSU 17:35.5
10. Daniel Saina, McNeese 17:39.8
 
Women's Scores
1. Tulane                                     22
2. LSU                                        53
3. McNeese                                74
4. Southeastern La.                104
5. Loyola-New Orleans             165
8. Nicholls                                 170
9. Xavier-Louisiana                   183
10. Alcorn State                        196
 
Top 10 Finishers
1. Emma Newton, Tulane    18:52.3
2. Lauren Bartels, Tulane, 18:53.7
3. Ersula Farrow, LSU        18:57.4
4. Bridgid Selfors, Tulane     18:58.8
5. Mckenzie Melius, Tulane 19:03.0
6. Imogen Hull, McNeese    19:13.2
7. Erika Lewis, LSU            19:14.1
8. Hannah Bourque, LSU    19:18.3
9. Tara Stuntz, SLU          19:20.9
10. Sarah Cella, Tulane        19:33.4