BATON ROUGE, La. – Junior Joseph LeGrange moved  back atop the Southeastern Louisiana cross country leaderboard as the Baton Rouge native sparked the Lions to a third-place finish Saturday at the LSU Invitational.

LeGrange placed ninth with a time of 27 minutes, 35.1 seconds on the 8k course.

“Joe had a phenomenal day today,” distance coach Brent Alfred said. “He's starting to adjust. When you get a new coach it takes time to get used to the new training style. He stepped up his leadership and got back to the top where he belongs. I'm proud of him.”

On the women's side Heather Fitzhenry continued her strong running, finishing 15th overall (22 minutes and 55.1 seconds), guiding the Lady Lions to a fourth-place finish in the 6k race.

“Heather continues to impress me week in and week out, and the top five girls all did better than the previous week,” Alfred said.

Senior Lindsey Toups (23:23.6), a Gonzales native, and Bethany Burst (23:31.) finished 20th and 21st, respectively.

“Lindsey Toups is more of a short distance runner, but she showed a lot of grit and determination the last time on her home course,” Alfred said.

Sophomore Ashley Pfantz (24:31.0) finished 30th and freshman Leticia Shaban (25:15.5), despite an injury, finished 33rd.

“Leticia Shaban sprained her ankle early in the course,” Alfred said. “She was in pain, but gutted it out. It says a lot about a freshman who is a long way from home, running in conditions new to her.”

For the men, Paul Arthur (28:18.8) continued his strong running, placing 14th, one spot in front of freshman Harry Wiggins (28:32.5). Matt Mouton (29:22.4) placed 21st and Kyle Rudolph (30:12.2) finished 28th.

“We've got a week off before Mississippi College, so we'll be ready to roll,” Alfred said.


MEN'S RESULTS
9 Joseph LeGrange, 27:35.5
14 Paul Arthur,  28:18.8
15 Harry Wiggins, 28:32.5
21 Matt Mouton,  29:22.4
28 Kyle Rudolph,  30:12.2
38 Joseph Edwards, 31:56.1
42 Jesse McDavitt, 32:32.9
44 Tyler Waggenspack, 33:45.3
45 Scott Richardson, 35:53.8

Team Scores
Rank - Team - Total
1 Lamar   15, Average: 26:28.28
2 LSU    72, Average: 28:37.12
3 SE Louisiana   79, Average: 28:48.28
4 Loyola-New Orleans  121, Average: 29:56.68
5 Mississippi College  124, Average: 30:14.72
6 Nicholls State   169, Average: 35:44.10
7 Jackson State   193, Average: 37:49.90
8 Southern   198, Average: 39:13.14


WOMEN'S RESULTS
15 Heather Fitzhenry, 22:55.1
20 Lindsey Toups, 23:23.6
21 Bethany Burst,  23:31.6
30 Ashley Pfantz,  24:31.0
33 Leticia Shaban, 25:15.5
46 Emily Pevey,  26:32.1
47 Katie Neil,  26:37.6
48 Jennifer Ernst,  26:52.2

Team Scores
Rank – Team - Total
1 LSU    17, Average: 21:04.40
2 Lamar   56, Average: 22:14.44
3 Nicholls State   94, Average: 23:26.96
4 SE Louisiana   110, Average: 23:55.36
5 Mississippi College  124, Average: 24:18.96
6 Jackson State   169, Average: 25:45.50
7 Loyola-New Orleans  171, Average: 25:43.02
8 Southern   213, Average: 28:29.62