AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn cross country teams will compete at the NCAA South Regional on Friday, Nov. 13 at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. The women’s 6k will start at 7:30 a.m. CT, followed by the men’s 10k at 8:30 a.m.
The south region is one of nine nationally that will serve as a qualifier for 2026 NCAA Championships, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21 at the LaVern Gibsson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
Auburn’s women are currently ranked seventh in the USTFCCCA South Regional rankings and have been as high as fourth this season. The Tiger will be led by freshman Faith Chelangat, and seniors Camila Gomes and Cady McPhail, who were the squad’s top three finishers at SECs two weeks ago.
“The women are excited to get out there and race and make steps toward being a top team in the region, which is really exciting,” Associate Head Cross Country Coach Kara Foster said. “We have some potential for our front end to make nationals, which is really exciting.”
Chelangat has had an outstanding freshman season, earning All-SEC honors two weeks ago while being Auburn’s top finisher in all four races she’s competed in. Gomes made her debut at the Pre-Nationals meet and was the Tigers’ second finisher there and at SECs., McPhail has made continual progress all season long highlighted by her performance at the conference meet with her best showing in an Auburn uniform.
“I think Faith is a frontrunner, as a prospect, to make nationals out of our region,” Foster said. “She's really proved that she's a great runner this season, and I think she'll be ready to go and race hard and hopefully make nationals this Friday.”
On the men’s side, veterans Nickson Chebii, Max Hardin and Josh Kosgei will be competing for the Tigers.
“The men made it through SECs, and some of our guys are more shorter mileage people, so taking the step to 10k is kind of a reach for them,” Foster said. “We made a decided choice as a program to take the people who are ready to race, and that's Nickson, Max and Josh.”
A two-time NCAA Championships participant, Chebii will vie to become the first cross country runner in program history to individually qualify for nationals in three consecutive years. Hardin won the JSU Foothills Invitational to open the season and has led Auburn in two meets and has been the second finisher to Chebii in the last two outings. Kosgei meanwhile has been the Tigers third finisher in all four meets this year.
The top two teams from each regional automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, along with the first four individuals who are not part of an advancing team.
Both races will air live on the ESPN+ with live results available at https://live.pttiming.com.