Fairfax- Cross Country travels to Milliken Research Park, South Carolina to compete in the NCAA SE Regionals on Friday. George Mason have competed in 5 other meets before the NCAA Regionals and 8 runners have been chosen for the men's team and another 8 have been chosen for the women's team.
The NCAA SE Regionals is the final stepping stone to qualify for the NCAA Championships which will be held in Charlottesville, Virginia. The top two teams from the SE Regionals will qualify to the Championships. There are 8 other regionals going on across the country meaning that 16 teams will be at the NCAA Championships. 13 at-large teams will then be chosen by the NCAA based off their performances, mainly from the regionals, meaning that the 3rd and 4th placed teams still have a chance to qualify for the Championships. Individual runners can also qualify for the Championships if their team did not already qualify by being top 2 or was an at-large team.
Wesley Bond,
Mason Love,
Gavin Mogck, Nick Emmert,
Alex Murphy,
Alex DeRoussel,
Kai Muniz, and
Josh Walker traveled to South Carolina to represent the GMU men's cross country team.
Wesley Bond looks to continue his form after finishing in second place overall at the A10 Championships earning the First Team All-Conference award.
Mason Love has recovered from his illness and will be looking forward to perform at the highest level.
Wesley Bond,
Mason Love, and
Kai Muniz have already ran last year's regionals which was held in Kentucky. The men's team have been running 8k races all season, but the regionals will be a 10k race.
40 teams will be fighting for the limited spots to qualify for the Men's 10k NCAA Championships:
Appalachian State, Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Charleston, Davidson, Duke, East Carolina, Eastern Kentucky, Elon, Furman, George Mason, High Point, Kentucky, Liberty, Longwood, Louisville, Morehead State, Murray State, N.C. Central, NC State, Norfolk State, North Carolina, Northern Kentucky, Presbyterian, Radford, Richmond, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, UNCW, USC Upstate, VCU, Virginia, Virginia Tech, VMI, Wake Forest, William & Mary, Winthrop, and Wofford.
Kate O'Neill,
Nourene Nabbus,
Sarah Clark,
Kenzie Dillman,
Yashika Chidirala,
Brenna Elchenko,
Aylin Yirmibesoglu, and
Katryna Aulenbach have also traveled to South Carolina for the women's 6k race. Kate O' Neill finished in 11th at the A10 Championships and earned the First Team All-Conference award. She has also participated in last year's regionals finishing in 79th with a time of 21:56.3.
Sarah Clark,
Brenna Elchenko, and
Aylin Yirmibesoglu may be newcomers this season but they have proven throughout the season that they are ready to compete in the regionals for a chance to compete in the NCAA Championships.
There will be 36 teams who all have the same goal of qualifying for the Championships in the Women's 6k:
Appalachian State, Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Charleston, Davidson, Duke, East Carolina, Eastern Kentucky, Elon, Furman, George Mason, High Point, James Madison, Kentucky, Liberty, Longwood, Louisville, Morehead State, Murray State, N.C. Central, NC State, Norfolk State, North Carolina, Northern Kentucky, Presbyterian, Radford, Richmond, South Carolina, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, UNCW, USC Upstate, VCU, Virginia, Virginia Tech, VMI, Wake Forest, William & Mary, and Winthrop.
"Each meet this season, we've made progress individually and as a team and our goal is to continue that tomorrow", said Coach Gerard. "The Southeast region in cross country is always one of the best in the country and this year is no exception, so it will be our toughest test of the year for sure but we're healthy, prepared, and excited to toe the line"!
The Women's 6k race will begin at 11a.m. and the Men's 10k race will begin at 12 p.m.
Follow live here: https://www.flashresults.com/2024_Meets/xc/NCAASE/
