BATON ROUGE -- LSU senior Jimmy Wiggins was named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association\'s Male Cross Country Runner of the Year and three other were selected to the All-Louisiana team the organization announced Sunday.
Junior Patrick Gavin as well as Lady Tiger seniors Katie Denton and Ruth Nanyinza each earned all-state honors.
Wiggins, a native of Covington, was the Tigers\' top finisher in four of the six races this season. He recorded three top 20 individual finishes,including a first-place finish at the LSU Invitational. The 5-10 harrier posted the Tigers\' top 10K time of the season (30:45.9) at the Chile Pepper Invitational and produced a personal best 8K time of 25:00.46 at the SEC Championships. He finished 27th at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships (31.27).
Joining Wiggins on the men\'s All-Louisiana team was Folsom, La., native Patrick Gavin. Gavin paced the Tiger squad at both the Auburn Invitational and the SEC Championships where he turned in LSU\'s best 8K time of the season (24:30.52) to place 22nd overall. In addition, he recorded two top 10 individual finishes, placing seventh at the New Mexico Invitational and eighth at the Auburn Invitational.
Headlining the women\'s All-Louisiana team were LSU\'s outstanding duo Denton and Nanyinza.
Denton, a Baton Rouge native, was the Lady Tigers\' top finisher in four of the six races this season. She posted two top 15 finishes on the year and turned in her best 6K effort (22:11) at the regional championships.
Nanyinza led the Lady Tigers\' at both the LSU Invitational and the SEC Championships. In just her first cross country meet as a Lady Tiger, the Chingola, Zambia native won the LSU Invite, clocking 22:05.65 over the 6K course. She went on to post a season-best effort of 21:51.42 at the conference meet to finish 21st overall.
2004 LSWA All-Louisiana Men\'s Cross Country Team
Maya Aden, UL-Monroe, Ottawa, Canada
Philip Aagaard, Tulane, Linkoping, Sweden
Patrick Gavin, LSU, Folsom, La.
Stefan Malmqvist, Louisiana tech, Stockholm, Sweden
Asbel Ngetich, SE Louisiana, Kapsabet, Kenya
Jacob Simmons, UL-Lafayette, Houma, La.
Jimmy Wiggins, LSU, Sr., Covington, La.
Runner of the Year: Jimmy Wiggins, LSU
Freshman of the Year: Jacob Simmons, UL-Lafayette
Coach of the Year: Tim Lemaire, UL-Lafayette
2004 LSWA All-Louisiana Women\'s Cross Country Team
Rachel Bryan, Tulane, Elk Grove, Calif.
Jean Cassandra, Loyola, Rockville Centre, N.Y.
Katie Denton, LSU, Baton Rouge, La.
Ruth Nanyinza, LSU, Chingola, Zambia
Aubrey Phillips, Tulane, Baton Rouge, La.
Natalie Sargent, Loyola, Tampa, Fla.
Ruth Waller, NcNeese State, Manchester, England
Runner of the Year: Rachel Bryan, Tulane
Freshman of the Year: Rachel Bryan, Tulane
Coach of the Year: Al Seither, Loyola