Auburn, Ala.—The Auburn men's and women's cross country teams will compete Friday morning in the NCAA South Region Cross Country Championships at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., vying for a berth to the NCAA Championships. The women's 6k race will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the men's 10k race starting at 9:30 a.m. ET.
"We're excited to go to regionals," Auburn distance and cross country coach David Barnett said. "Training has been going well. Everyone's been able to stay healthy and stay away from sickness, which is a tough thing to do this time of year. I feel like everyone is still progressing. I think we're going to have our best race of the season at regionals."
A total of 38 women's teams and 33 men's teams will be represented at the South Region, with the top two teams in each race qualifying for nationals. The top four individuals that are not a part of NCAA qualifying teams will also advance to nationals.
"It's a bigger race. A race this size, it's a lot easier to go out on your pace and there is always going to be somebody to run with," Barnett said. "The biggest thing is to be a little more conservative just to make sure you're running your pace and just compete to the best of your ability."
Auburn's best chances to see individual qualifiers for the NCAA Championships are from freshman Silas Kipngetich on the men's side and sophomore Joyce Kimeli on the women's side.
"I think Silas and Joyce are both capable of making it to nationals," Barnett said. "Of course, just like every other sport, you have to do it on the day. I think they're definitely mentally and physically at their best right now than at any other point in the season. I'm expecting them to have solid races."
Kimeli finished fifth at the SEC Championships on Oct. 26 in Auburn, the best finish by a Tiger female at SECs since Brenda Kigen was fourth in 2015. Kimeli has been the Tigers' top finisher in each meet she's raced this season.
Kipngetich was 13th two weeks ago at the SEC meet, which was the best performance by an Auburn freshman at the conference championships since Kane Grimster in 2011.
The Auburn women have had an individual NCAA qualifier in each of the last three years. Brenda Kigen qualified in 2015 and '17, with former Tiger Veronica Eder advancing in 2016. Ty McCormack and Kane Grimster were Auburn's last men's NCAA qualifiers, advancing out of the South Region in 2014.
The Auburn men will also have Erik Armes, Ryan Lee, Tommy McDonough, Jack Rogers, Andy Smith and Alex Tucker competing, while on the women's side, Cassie Bebout, Brenda Kigen, Mercy Kiprop, Louisa McPherson, Frances Patrick, Hannah Tarwater and Presley Weems will also be traveling to Tallahassee.
The South Region meet will provide the Tigers with not only a bigger field of competition, but an opportunity to gauge the team's progress during the fall against some of the top teams in the region.
"If we can be top 10 on both sides, I think that'd be a big step forward from where we were at conference," Barnett said. "I think with being such young teams, I think that'd be a good place to be going into next season. I think those are challenging goals. It won't be easy to be top 10 but I think it's definitely possible."
ESPN3 will televise both races and live results including splits and scoring will be available at https://results.flotrack.org/XC-PTT.html?mid=1496.
NCAA SOUTH REGION
APALACHEE REGIONAL PARK
TALLAHASSEE, FLA.
Friday, November 9
8:30 am ET Women's 6k Championship Race
930 am ET Men's 10k Championship Race
Live Results (including splits and scoring)
https://results.flotrack.org/XC-PTT.html?mid=1496
ESPN3 Links
8:30 am Women's 6k
http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/774039f6-aafe-4d0c-a810-24346357d6bb/ncaa-cross-country-south-regional-championship
9:30 am Men's 10k
http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/cb7f1b6b-0b3d-4ddb-9d6b-6643c6779159/ncaa-cross-country-south-regional-championship