September 13, 2025

Chebii and Coetzee lead Tigers at Southern Showcase

Sophomore Nickson Chebii and senior Gené Coetzee led the Auburn cross country team to strong finishes for the men’s and women’s squads at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama, at the John Hunt Cross Country Running Park. With a time of 23:30.23, Chebii finished seventh overall in the men’s 8k race, and Coetzee made her season debut, placing 23rd overall in the women’s 5k (17:15.64).

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Sophomore Nickson Chebii and senior Gené Coetzee led the Auburn cross country team to strong finishes for the men’s and women’s squads at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama, at the John Hunt Cross Country Running Park. With a time of 23:30.23, Chebii finished seventh overall in the men’s 8k race, and Coetzee made her season debut, placing 23rd overall in the women’s 5k (17:15.64).

“A lot of positives coming out of this weekend overall,” Auburn distance coach Aaron Kindt said. “We now have a couple of races under our belt and some time to install more of our long-term training as we head into the most important stretch of our season in October and November.”

The men finished fourth of 48 teams in the standings with 149 points, while the women claimed seventh of 52 teams, coming in at 248 points

“Our men were strong today,” Kindt said. “They did a great job of establishing themselves at the front of the race early on. In a field with that many competitors, it can be easy to get swallowed up by that size of pack. I thought our guys did a really good job of navigating that early on without jeopardizing the rest of the race.

For the second week in a row, Chebii claimed the top spot for the Tigers. Chebii finished seventh overall, outdistancing 443 other competitors, with a time of 23:30.23.

“Nickson showed he’s close to what he was at the end of last season for us, which is exciting to see from him,” Kindt said. “I also thought Max Hardin and Evan Hill put together complete races today.”

Sophomore Max Hardin was the second to cross the line for the orange and blue, coming in at 24:00.15. The indoor mile record holder for Auburn finished 17th overall.

Junior Evan Hill followed with a time of 24:19.25, his best collegiate finish in the men’s 8k and placing 27th overall.

Rounding out the scoring for the Tigers were sophomore Joshua Kosgei and freshman Bryce McCleary, who were 52nd (24:41.03) and 53rd (24:42.02), respectively.

“The women had an off day,” Kindt said. “The start had us playing catch-up for most of the race and wasn’t quite the finish we were hoping for.”

Running for the first time in orange and blue this cross country season, Coetzee was the top finisher for the Tigers on the women’s side. She crossed the 5k finish line in 17:15.64, placing 23rd out of 471 competitors.

The next finisher for the women was junior Cady McPhail. McPhail finished 38th overall with a time of 17:30.90. For the second meet in a row, McPhail finished as one of the top two finishers for the women’s squad.

“I thought Cady’s performance stood out,” Kindt said. “She put together another strong performance over 5000m, and it’s good to see her become more confident as a cross country athlete.”

The third finisher on the women’s side was junior Mary Mac Collins. Crossing in a time of 17:41.99 in the 5k, Collins delivered a solid outing to help her team’s standings, finishing 52nd overall. Crossing after Collins for the Tigers was junior Audrey Dunn (17:53.50), placing 70th, and sophomore Alexandra Walsh rounded out the scoring for the women with a time of 17:56.40.

Mountain Brook, Alabama native, Mary Katherine Malone put together her best collegiate 8k race (18:09.00). Not far behind Malone was sophomore Addison Boyer (18:09.88) and freshman Kennedy Hamilton ran 18:33.28.

The Tigers will be back in action Friday, October 17th, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at the Crimson Classic.

2025 Southern Showcase

Choccolocco Park Sports Complex

Huntsville, Alabama

Men’s Results (8k)