The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday, November 15
Tallahassee, Fla.
7:30 AM
Ole Miss
vs
NCAA South Regional
Cross Country in Hunt for National Tickets at NCAA South Regional
11/14/2024 | Cross Country
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ole Miss cross country looks to punch its tickets to the NCAA Championships when the Rebel men's and women's teams toe the line at the NCAA South Regional, held at Florida State's Apalachee Regional Park early Friday morning.
The key prize for teams running in the nine NCAA Regional meets across the United States on Friday will be the top-two automatic qualifier spots to the national championship, which this year will be hosted by Wisconsin on Nov. 23.
An additional 13 at-large teams and variable number of additional individuals not attached to a qualified team are chosen through a national selection process. The NCAA Selection Show is set for Sat., Nov. 16 at 4 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. The top-25 finishers at each regional earn All-Region honors.
The Rebel women will be searching for an NCAA berth in arguably one of their toughest tests of the season. The women's squad will face five nationally ranked opponents, three of which the Rebel women competed against two weeks prior in the SEC Championships. This week the Ole Miss women will compete for national tickets against No. 7 Alabama, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 18 Florida, No. 24 Florida State and No. 27 Lipscomb.
The Ole Miss women are looking to make a return trip to the national meet after finishing 21st in the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The women have been represented at the national meet each year since 2016, earning team berths in seven of those eight seasons.
Returning All-Region senior Loral Winn is coming off yet another excellent performance at the 2024 SEC Championships. Winn led the Rebel women with a seventh-place finish overall at 19.17.5, earning First-Team All-SEC honors and recording her sixth sub-20 6K of her collegiate career, the most by any Rebel woman in recorded school history.
Other Rebel women scheduled to run on Friday morning are junior Beth Arentz, junior Sophie Baumann, senior Ainhoa Brea, senior Madison Hulsey, sophomore Adie Luna, junior Frances Luna and senior Emilia Mikszuta.
The Rebel men are looking for a ticket to the NCAA Championships after narrowly missing the opportunity last year. After a hard-fought performance at the SEC Championships, where the men finished in third place, the Ole Miss men began receiving votes in the Week Five USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll. In the South Region, Ole Miss currently ranks second behind No. 10 Alabama.
Returning All-Region junior Toby Gillen is coming off his best performance of his college career at the SEC Championships, where he led the Ole Miss men in eighth place at a 31-second PR of 22:41.3 in the 8K race to earn Second-Team All-SEC honors.
Some new faces to look out for in the NCAA South Regional are senior LIU transfer Elyas Ayyoub and junior Maine transfer Evan Thornton-Sherman. Ayyoub earned Second-Team All-SEC honors in 12th place with a 57-second PR of 23.00.6 in the 8K. Similarly, Thornton-Sherman finished in 15th place with a one minute and six second PR of 23:04.1.
Other men running are senior Benjamin Bayless, senior Aiden Britt, returning All-Region senior Jack Meijer, senior Chase Rose and junior Gabe Scales.
The women's 6K race is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. CT, followed by the men's 10K race at 8:30 a.m. CT.
Women's NCAA South Region Rankings
1. #7 Alabama
2. #16 Tennessee
3. #24 Florida State
4. #18 Florida
5. #27 Lipscomb
6. Ole Miss
7. Georgia Tech
8. Auburn
9. Vanderbilt
10. Mississippi State
11. Samford
12. Middle Tennessee
13. Kennesaw State
14. Florida Atlantic
15. Miami
Men's NCAA South Region Rankings
1. #10 Alabama
2. Ole Miss (RV)
3. Tennessee
4. Auburn
5. North Florida
6. Lipscomb
7. Florida State
8. Georgia Tech
9. Belmont
10. Middle Tennessee
11. Georgia
12. Florida
13. Vanderbilt
14. Jacksonville State
15. Kennesaw State
Ole Miss Women's Regional Roster
Beth Arentz
Sophie Baumann
Ainhoa Brea
Madison Hulsey
Adie Luna
Frances Luna
Emilia Mikszuta
Loral Winn
Ole Miss Men's Regional Roster
Elyas Ayyoub
Benjamin Bayless
Aiden Britt
Toby Gillen
Jack Meijer
Chase Rose
Gabe Scales
Evan Thornton-Sherman
The key prize for teams running in the nine NCAA Regional meets across the United States on Friday will be the top-two automatic qualifier spots to the national championship, which this year will be hosted by Wisconsin on Nov. 23.
An additional 13 at-large teams and variable number of additional individuals not attached to a qualified team are chosen through a national selection process. The NCAA Selection Show is set for Sat., Nov. 16 at 4 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. The top-25 finishers at each regional earn All-Region honors.
The Rebel women will be searching for an NCAA berth in arguably one of their toughest tests of the season. The women's squad will face five nationally ranked opponents, three of which the Rebel women competed against two weeks prior in the SEC Championships. This week the Ole Miss women will compete for national tickets against No. 7 Alabama, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 18 Florida, No. 24 Florida State and No. 27 Lipscomb.
The Ole Miss women are looking to make a return trip to the national meet after finishing 21st in the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The women have been represented at the national meet each year since 2016, earning team berths in seven of those eight seasons.
Returning All-Region senior Loral Winn is coming off yet another excellent performance at the 2024 SEC Championships. Winn led the Rebel women with a seventh-place finish overall at 19.17.5, earning First-Team All-SEC honors and recording her sixth sub-20 6K of her collegiate career, the most by any Rebel woman in recorded school history.
Other Rebel women scheduled to run on Friday morning are junior Beth Arentz, junior Sophie Baumann, senior Ainhoa Brea, senior Madison Hulsey, sophomore Adie Luna, junior Frances Luna and senior Emilia Mikszuta.
The Rebel men are looking for a ticket to the NCAA Championships after narrowly missing the opportunity last year. After a hard-fought performance at the SEC Championships, where the men finished in third place, the Ole Miss men began receiving votes in the Week Five USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll. In the South Region, Ole Miss currently ranks second behind No. 10 Alabama.
Returning All-Region junior Toby Gillen is coming off his best performance of his college career at the SEC Championships, where he led the Ole Miss men in eighth place at a 31-second PR of 22:41.3 in the 8K race to earn Second-Team All-SEC honors.
Some new faces to look out for in the NCAA South Regional are senior LIU transfer Elyas Ayyoub and junior Maine transfer Evan Thornton-Sherman. Ayyoub earned Second-Team All-SEC honors in 12th place with a 57-second PR of 23.00.6 in the 8K. Similarly, Thornton-Sherman finished in 15th place with a one minute and six second PR of 23:04.1.
Other men running are senior Benjamin Bayless, senior Aiden Britt, returning All-Region senior Jack Meijer, senior Chase Rose and junior Gabe Scales.
The women's 6K race is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. CT, followed by the men's 10K race at 8:30 a.m. CT.
Women's NCAA South Region Rankings
1. #7 Alabama
2. #16 Tennessee
3. #24 Florida State
4. #18 Florida
5. #27 Lipscomb
6. Ole Miss
7. Georgia Tech
8. Auburn
9. Vanderbilt
10. Mississippi State
11. Samford
12. Middle Tennessee
13. Kennesaw State
14. Florida Atlantic
15. Miami
Men's NCAA South Region Rankings
1. #10 Alabama
2. Ole Miss (RV)
3. Tennessee
4. Auburn
5. North Florida
6. Lipscomb
7. Florida State
8. Georgia Tech
9. Belmont
10. Middle Tennessee
11. Georgia
12. Florida
13. Vanderbilt
14. Jacksonville State
15. Kennesaw State
Ole Miss Women's Regional Roster
Beth Arentz
Sophie Baumann
Ainhoa Brea
Madison Hulsey
Adie Luna
Frances Luna
Emilia Mikszuta
Loral Winn
Ole Miss Men's Regional Roster
Elyas Ayyoub
Benjamin Bayless
Aiden Britt
Toby Gillen
Jack Meijer
Chase Rose
Gabe Scales
Evan Thornton-Sherman
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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