AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn men's and women's cross country team will head to Tallahassee, Fla. to compete at the NCAA South Region on Friday, November 15 as they race to qualify for NCAA Championships. The races at the Apalachee Regional Park will begin with the women's 6k at 8:30 a.m. CT and the men's 10k following at 9:30 a.m.
The field will feature 30 to 35 competitive teams all around the south region. The top two teams in each race will qualify for nationals, and the top four individuals that are not a part of NCAA qualifying teams will also have the chance to advance to nationals.
"It's going to be a huge race," cross country head coach David Barnett said. "It's going to be very exciting."
The course is rolled gravel that overall is very firm. It will be two loops for the women and three and a half loops for the men.
"Most of them have seen the course before," Barnett said. "The ones that haven't will really like it. It's just a good quality championship course."
On the women's side, the top seven women who finished at conference championships will be racing on Friday. From the top-down it is anticipated to be junior Joyce Kimeli, sophomore Faith Bett, junior Mercy Kiprop, sophomore Hannah Tarwater, freshman Hannah Dyal, sophomores Gigi Maddox and Abbey Zane.
"Essentially, it'll be the women that finished in the top seven at conference championships," cross country head coach David Barnett said. "If you're going to be the top seven at conference, you're going to be the top seven to race. It's a pretty fair way to do things."
Kimeli has a strong shot at being a repeat individual qualifier for NCAA Championships. The Eldoret, Kenya native was fourth at the South Regional a year ago, earning her first bid to the championships. This season she has taken home three top three finishes, including a third place at the SEC Championships two weeks ago.
"She's raced and beat most of the women in the region," Barnett said. "So really it's important that she goes out there with the mindset that it's just another day in the office. She's excited about it. She's ready to go. She's had a good season, and she's ready to finish it off and get on to the next thing."
The top seven from SECs on the men's side including sophomore Silas Kipngetich, junior Jack Rogers, senior Andy Smith, senior Tommy McDonough, sophomore Jackson Thomas and freshman Evan Rogers will be racing. Kipnegetich earned all-region honors as a freshman last season following an 11th place finish.
"The men will be running 10k meters," Barnett said. "Most of the season it's been 8k meters. For some reason that's just the championship distance for regionals and nationals. Everyone is going to be working through it, and we're looking forward to the challenge."
NCAA Championships will be held at Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, November 23 for the Tigers that qualify this Friday at South Region.