Official Regional Website

GREENSBORO, NC – Teams and runners from numerous American Southwest Conference programs will participate in the 2009 NCAA South/Southeast Regional to be held on Saturday (Nov. 14) at The Meadows Cross Country Course and hosted by GuildfordCollege.

The women will run a 6K and get going at 11 a.m. local time, while the men will follow with an 8K at noon.

The top two teams and top seven individuals not on qualifying teams in each race will advance to next weekend's NCAA Division III National Championship at Highland Park Golf Course in Cleveland, Ohio.

TEAM PREVIEWS
(courtesy ASC Sports Information Directors)

MCMURRY

Saturday the McMurry cross country teams head east, way east to Greensboro, N.C. where Guilford College will host the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional Championships.

McMurry's women are coming off a second-place finish at the American Southwest Conference Championships in Clinton, Miss. Oct. 31 will look to make a push and see if senior Carla Lewis, who won the ASC individual title, can squeeze into the top 12 spots to have a chance at the national meet.

The men's team finished third at the ASC Championships and senior Ken Wheeler will look to return to the national meet after a 12th-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Regional Meet making him just the second runner in school history to earn a bid to the national meet.

Last season, the regional meet was just 300 miles southeast of Abilene in Seguin. However, this year, the trip is 1,300 miles east of the friendly confines of home.

“It is fun and taxing at the same time,” said head cross country coach David Chandler of the travel. “Most of the runners enjoy travelling though, and our program is known for travelling around the United States over the years. There is a huge perspective and educational benefit that comes with that.”

Chandler said that the goals for both teams are to finish in the top 10 on each side. Last season, the men placed ninth and the women placed 17th. However, the women's team was without Lewis who took the 2008 season off.

Obviously, neither McMurry's coach nor its runners have seen the course in North Carolina, but Chander was able to gather some information from the hosts.

“The course has quite a few turns and loops in it,” he said. “It might be a little muddy due to Hurricane Ida, but it shouldn't be too bad.”

Saturday 36 women's teams will square off against one another in a 6K race beginning at 11 a.m. EST. The men's 8K race will feature 32 teams and start at Noon EST.

In addition to running, McMurry's teams will be taking in the sites of the surrounding area. The team plans to have a preparation run at Duke University in Raleigh, N.C., and the team will make visits to the Natural Science Center in Greensboro, N.C. and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

“This is a great opportunity to grow as whole persons in mind, body and spirit,” said Chandler. “Lifetime memories will be made this weekend.”

TEXAS-TYLER

After a historic victory for the women and a second place finish for the men two weeks ago at the American Southwest Conference Championships, both of The University of Texas at Tyler cross country teams are now focused on a common goal. That goal being securing one of two automatic berths to the NCAA Division III National Championships at Saturday’s South/Southeast Regional at Guilford College’s The Meadows cross country course in Greensboro.

The women will enter Saturday’s race carrying the momentum from their big win at the ASC Championships. The Patriots will be led in the race by the freshman duo of Ginny Murphy (Ovilla, Texas) and ASC Freshman of the Year Jessica Waninger (Tyler, Texas). Murphy and Waninger have been the top two UT Tyler finishers in every race this season.

Along with sophomore Sarah Hankla (Tyler, Texas), Waninger and Murphy broke the previous 6K school record when the Patriots raced at Guilford earlier this season. All three ladies received All-Conference honors this year.

The Patriots will also have the services of junior Natalie Holcomb (Whitehouse, Texas) and Jessica Ball (Daingerfield, Texas) in the race. Holcomb and Ball also earned All-ASC honors this year, while Holcomb was named ASC Newcomer of the Year, as well.

In the men’s race, first-team All Conference recipients Jeff Chandler (Longview, Texas) and Ross Renfroe (Tyler, Texas) will lead the way for the UT Tyler. Both Patriots were also named as ASC Runners of Week during the regular season.

Fellow All-Conference honorees Will Krogman (Mesquite, Texas) and Mark Saroni (Mesquite, Texas) will also provide the Patriots with firepower at the regional. As will senior Philbert Mutuyimana (Phoenix, Ariz.), who took home All-Region honors at last year’s race.

OZARKS

Four members of the cross country team will head to the NCAA III South/Southeast Regionals held November 14 at GuilfordCollege in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The men will be represented by David James, Tristan Cooper and Jeremy Provence. Tadera Garland will represent the women’s team. James, who finished sixth overall at the American Southwest Conference Championships with a time of 28:36.44, was named to the All-Conference First Team. Cooper followed with a 28:46.80 time to earn a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. Jeremy Provence finished 19th overall with a time of 30:45.64.

“The men did very well at the ASC Championships,” said Head Coach Brian Hull. “We improved our times from a year ago. This year, David improved his time and he is our first First Team All-Conference performer since 1997. Cooper moved up seven spots from last year and Jeremy moved up from 30th last year to 19th this year. All three of these guys ran last year at regionals in Seguin, Texas.”

Garland was Ozarks’ top finisher at the ASC Championships running a 30:39.01, good enough for 47th overall.

“Tadera represented our team very well at the ASC championships,” said Hull. “This will be a tremendous experience for her and a great way to reward her for achieving her goals throughout the year.”

The top-two teams from both women’s and men’s regional meets automatically advance to the national championship in Cleveland, Ohio, November 21. The third-, fourth- and fifth-place regional finishers are eligible for at-large berths into the 32-team national championships field. In addition, the top-seven individuals at the regional meets advance to the national championships. All seven members of the two automatic qualifiers will be removed from the results and the remaining individuals not on a qualifying team will be renumbered to determine individual national qualifiers. The Guilford race will be 6K for the women and 8K for the men.

“We will see some outstanding competition at this race,” said Hull. “It is great exposure for Ozarks and hopefully a stepping stone into the national race. To qualify for nationals we have to have runners finish in the top 15 or top 20. Our last runner to qualify for the national race was in 1996. This course will be very reasonable. It won’t be tremendously fast. It will have some rolling hills with grassy paths, but we are familiar with courses like this.”

More previews to come...