Gainesville, Fla.—The Auburn cross country program concluded the 2023 season at the NCAA South Regional with a seventh place showing on the men's side and ninth place on the women's side Friday morning at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville. It was the men's best team finish at the south regional since 2017.
"Overall, it was a hard-fought day for both teams," Auburn cross country coach Aaron Kindt said. "I'm proud the efforts this group displayed today."
Junior Ryan Kinnane led the men's efforts with a 12th-place finish, crossing the 10k course in 29:16.7. Kinnane, who qualified for nationals a year ago, will await his postseason fate until Saturday at 4 p.m. CT when the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Selection Show will announce team and individual at-large selections.
Eighteen teams automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships by finishing as one of the top two teams at any of the nine regional races. The remaining 13 at-large teams for the final site are selected by the NCAA Division I Cross Country Subcommittee. Thirty-six individuals automatically qualify for the championships races by being one of the top four regional finishers not on an advancing team. Two additional individuals are selected at large by the committee.
"It was a tough day for our men's group. I thought we might have been a bit too patient in the beginning of the race, but credit to them they battled throughout this race," Kindt said. "We knew the difference between fifth and 10th place was small. It just wasn't our day. Despite coming up short of our goal, this group has accomplished a lot of what we set out to do this season and I'm proud of the work they've put in."
Carson Bedics was the men's second finisher with a time of 28:57.8, good for 33rd place. Freshman Max Hardin (30:29.8) was 47th, while Louis O'Loughlin (30:38.7) was 51st. Rounding out the Tigers' scorers was junior Fuji Anday (30:47.0) coming in at the 60th position.
On the women's side, sophomore Gene Coetzee again led the Tigers for the fifth consecutive meet, finishing 26th overall while crossing the 6k course in 19:16.9. Senior Hannah Tarwater concluded her Auburn career with a strong race, finishing in 20:08.9, good for 47th place.
"Gene ran strong at the front and I thought ran one of her more gutsy efforts of the year," Kindt said. "She is starting to develop into the type of front-running leader this group will need in the future. It was a fantastic final race for Hannah and I'm really happy she could end her career with a race like that."
The freshman trio of Mary Mac Collins (20:17.2), Ava McIntosh (20:18.0), and Cady McPhail (20:50.9) were the Tigers' second through fourth scorers, finishing in 54th, 56th and 94th place, respectively. Junior Hannah Thuss was the Tigers fifth scorer, finishing 111th in a time of 21:01.3.
"I thought our freshman were exceptional again," Kindt said. "They've been steady for us all year and really stepped up into some big roles this fall. The future is very bright for this women's team."
Tennessee and Florida earned automatic NCAA berths on the women's side, while Tennessee and Florida State were auto qualifiers on the men's side.
NCAA South Regional
Mark Bostick Golf Course
Gainesville, Florida
Women's Team Results
9. Auburn, 276 points
Women's Individual Results
26. Gene Coetzee, 19:16.9
47. Hannah Tarwater, 20:08.9
54. Mary Mac Collins, 20:17.2
56. Ava McIntosh, 20:18.0
94. Cady McPhail, 20:50.9
111. Hannah Thuss, 21:01.3
155. Shelby Balding, 21:43.6
Men's Team Results
7. Auburn, 200 points
Men's Individual Results
12. Ryan Kinnane, 29:16.7
33. Carson Bedics, 29:57.8
47. Max Hardin, 30:29.8
51. Louis O'Loughlin, 30:38.7
60. Fuji Anday, 30:47.0
77. Cooper Atkins, 31:30.0
81. Joseph Perry, 31:24.6