Auburn, Ala. - The Auburn cross country team will compete at the 2023 Southeastern Conference Championships on Friday morning at Charwood Golf Course in Columbia, South Carolina. The men's 8k race will begin at 9:08 a.m. CT followed by the women's 6k at 9:50 a.m. CT. An awards ceremony will follow the women's race. The SEC Network will televise the championships live.
A total of 18 Tigers are ready to compete for the conference's top honors in Columbia with six freshmen who will be running in their first SEC championship.
"The SEC, it means more," said Auburn cross country coach Aaron Kindt. "This is a meet that brings a lot of emotion and a lot of energy that they haven't experienced yet so I'm interested to see how this group handles it because they've been wonderful in every environment, I've put them in."
For the Auburn women, sophomore Gené Coetzee and junior Hallie Porterfield have led the way, earning the top two finishes at three of the Tigers' meets this season. Auburn opened the season with a win at the Foothills Invitational and most recently, a second-place finish in Tuscaloosa at the Crimson Classic.
"The women have done a tremendous job this year building themselves up to be at the level they are this deep into the season," Kindt said. "I feel good that we're going to have nine good performances. We think we can be a top seven team if we put it all together."
Running alongside Coetzee and Porterfield will be freshman Mary Mac Collins who had a top 20 finish running her first collegiate 6k at the Crimson Classic. They will be joined by Ava McIntosh, Hannah Tarwater, Audrey Dunn, Cady McPhail, Shelby Balding, and Hannah Thuss.
The men also started the season off strong with a first-place finish at the Foothills Invitational and are looking to bounce back to early season form.
Leading the way for the men has been SEC Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Ryan Kinnane. Kinnane has been a top three overall finisher in the three meets he's raced this season, including a win at the Southern Showcase. Kinnane was 11th at the SEC Championships a year ago.
"We're excited about where we think he can land at the end of this meet," said Kindt. "I feel like he's an all SEC front runner and we're looking forward to how his race plan unfolds."
Following closely behind Kinnane at the meets has been senior Carson Bedics and junior Cooper Atkins. The trio will be joined by Louis O'Loughlin, Max Hardin, Joseph Perry, Ethan Snyder, Dustyn Lewis, and Fuji Anday.
"All our goals are in front of us as we go into this meet," said Kindt. "Both teams are healthy and fit. I'm excited. This is the first meet since I've been here where I feel like we're going in with a full roster on both sides."
There are seven SEC teams that are listed among the nation's top-25 teams. Both Alabama's men and women won the title last year while Arkansas leads all programs with 27 SEC men's titles and 22 women's titles.
Up Next
The Tigers will travel to Gainesville, Florida for the NCAA South Regionals on Nov. 10 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.