SoCon Cross Country Teams Finish NCAA Regional Meets

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Seven Southern Conference (SoCon) teams competed in their region-specific NCAA Regional meets this weekend. Teams from South Carolina and North Carolina competed in the Southeast Regional meet, while teams from Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee competed in the South Regional meet.

On the women’s side, Furman finished 12th of 36 in the Southeast Region, while Western Carolina finished 30th. SoCon Women’s Runner and Freshman of the Year, Tessa Walter, of Furman, had the highest finish among SoCon runners in the 6K coming in 27th with a time of 20:13.5. Leading the Catamounts was Katherine Hopkins who finished 137th with a time of 22:09.2.

In the South Regional, the Mercer women finished 14th of 28, the Chattanooga women finished 20th , and the ETSU women finished 24th. The Bears’ Mary Grace Parker, 27th, was the highest finishing SoCon athlete with a time of 20:08.86. Maddie Wheatcroft led the Mocs, finishing 57th, while Sophie Beach led the Bucs, finishing 119th. 

In the men’s 10K, Furman placed 7th of 33 and UNCG placed 22nd in the Southeast Regional. Three-time runner of the week, Chris Knight, finished 20th to lead all SoCon runners in the race with a time of 30:10.0. Khalid Abdullahi was the first Spartan to cross the finish line, running a time of 32:13.4. 

Chattanooga, Mercer, Samford, and ETSU’s men finished 19th, 20th, 23rd, and 24th, respectively, of the 27 teams that competed in the South Region. The Mocs’ Jackson Martin finished 38th, leading all SoCon competitors, and finished the 10K with a time of 30:43.37. David Brown (Samford-89th), Yianni Pothoulakis (Mercer-90th), and William Harting (ETSU-116th) were the leading runners for their respective teams.

The NCAA Cross Country Selection Committee will announce 14 at-large selections during a selection show on November 15th at 5 p.m. ET.