The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday, November 12
Huntsville, Ala.
8:30 AM
Ole Miss
vs
NCAA South Regional
Cross Country Eyes National Berths at NCAA South Regional
11/11/2021 | Cross Country
<i class="icon-stats"></i> Live Results<i class="icon-info-circled"></i> Meet Info<i class="icon-paper"></i> USTFCCCA Preview
Competition Begins with Women’s 6K at 8:30 a.m. CT
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Ole Miss cross country looks to book its sixth straight trip combined national berth when the Rebel men's and women's squads toe the line at the NCAA South Regional, held at North Alabama this 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 at Florida State. The next four individual finishers not attached to either of those two qualifying teams also earn trips to the national meet as an individual runner.
An additional 13 at-large teams and a variable number of additional individuals are chosen through a national selection process. The NCAA Selection Show is set for Sat., Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. The top-25 finishers at each regional earn All-Region honors. No NCAA Regionals were held in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The No. 19 Rebel men are looking for their eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. Ole Miss will enter as the men's favorite, heading into the regional meet as the top-rated team in the South Region ahead of No. 23 Florida State and Alabama. The Rebel men have won the South Region title four of their last six tries, and return five members of that roster, including All-South Region runners Cade Bethmann (8th), Michael Coccia (19th) and Mario Garcia Romo (23rd).
Garcia Romo is coming off a bronze medal finish at the SEC Championships two weeks ago, which when combined with his SEC title in 2020 constitute the best back-to-back SEC finishes by a Rebel since Barnabas Kirui won in 2009 and 2010. Fellow All-American Cole Bullock is sure to be a factor as well, as he is coming off a seventh-place finish at the Rebels' conference runner-up team finish back on Oct. 29.
Other Rebel men on the regional roster include Cruz Culpepper, Dereck Elkins, Nick Moulai and Ben Savino.
The No. 15 Rebel women, meanwhile, are searching for their sixth straight NCAA berth after having never done so prior to 2016. Ole Miss received at-large tickets to the national meet in 2016, 2018 and 2020, earned an automatic qualifier bid in 2019 and won their first-ever NCAA South Region title in 2017.
Ole Miss is in the midst of a superb season that saw them come their closest to an SEC title in women's program history, falling short of perennial power Arkansas by 15 points. Sintayehu Vissa nearly ran a 6K career best amid difficult conditions to finish sixth overall, the best SEC individual finish in Ole Miss women's history.
That was just the latest benchmark for the Rebel women, who earned their top national ranking ever at No. 11 in the Week Five USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. Ole Miss has been superb at pack running, winning the North Alabama Showcase at a scoring spread of 31.9 seconds, finishing sixth amidst a strong field at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational at a spread of 46.2 seconds, fourth at Florida State's Pre-Nationals at 32.8 seconds and runner-up at SEC's at 50.9 seconds – yielding an average spread of just 40.5 seconds. At Notre Dame and Pre-Nationals, the Rebel women beat out a combined 12 other ranked schools and finished behind eight schools who held an average national ranking of 6.9.
Vissa was the top finisher for Ole Miss as well at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational, but it's been a true team effort for the Rebels in 2021. Cate Tracht was fourth at the Memphis Twilight on Sept. 4, Skylar Boogerd won the individual title amidst a powerful team showing at the North Alabama Showcase on Sept. 17 (for which she was named SEC Runner of the Week), and Anna Elkin was the frontrunner for Ole Miss at Pre-Nats with a 17th-place performance.
Other Rebel women running in Huntsville tomorrow morning include Second-Team All-SEC runner Ryann Helmers, Clio Ozanne-Jaques, Kristel van den Berg, Lydia van Dijk and Loral Winn.
Competition begins at 8:30 a.m. CT with the women's 6K, followed by the men's 10K at 9:30 a.m. CT.
Men's NCAA South Region Rankings
1. #19 Ole Miss
2. #23 Florida State
3. Alabama
4. North Florida
5. Middle Tennessee
6. Tennessee
7. Lipscomb
8. Belmont
9. Florida
10. Georgia
11. South Alabama
12. ETSU
13. Georgia Tech
14. Auburn
15. Tennessee Tech
Women's NCAA South Region Rankings
1. #9 Florida State
2. #15 Ole Miss
3. #11 Alabama
4. Tennessee
5. Georgia Tech
6. Florida
7. Lipscomb
8. Vanderbilt
9. Middle Tennessee
10. Auburn
11. Georgia
12. Southern Miss
13. Miami
14. UCF
15. Jacksonville
Ole Miss Men's Regional Roster
Cade Bethmann
Cole Bullock
Michael Coccia
Cruz Culpepper
Dereck Elkins
Mario Garcia Romo
Nick Moulai
Ben Savino
Ole Miss Women's Regional Roster
Skylar Boogerd
Anna Elkin
Ryann Helmers
Clio Ozanne-Jaques
Sintayehu Vissa
Kristel van den Berg
Lydia van Dijk
Loral Winn
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
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 at Florida State. The next four individual finishers not attached to either of those two qualifying teams also earn trips to the national meet as an individual runner.
An additional 13 at-large teams and a variable number of additional individuals are chosen through a national selection process. The NCAA Selection Show is set for Sat., Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. The top-25 finishers at each regional earn All-Region honors. No NCAA Regionals were held in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The No. 19 Rebel men are looking for their eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. Ole Miss will enter as the men's favorite, heading into the regional meet as the top-rated team in the South Region ahead of No. 23 Florida State and Alabama. The Rebel men have won the South Region title four of their last six tries, and return five members of that roster, including All-South Region runners Cade Bethmann (8th), Michael Coccia (19th) and Mario Garcia Romo (23rd).
Garcia Romo is coming off a bronze medal finish at the SEC Championships two weeks ago, which when combined with his SEC title in 2020 constitute the best back-to-back SEC finishes by a Rebel since Barnabas Kirui won in 2009 and 2010. Fellow All-American Cole Bullock is sure to be a factor as well, as he is coming off a seventh-place finish at the Rebels' conference runner-up team finish back on Oct. 29.
Other Rebel men on the regional roster include Cruz Culpepper, Dereck Elkins, Nick Moulai and Ben Savino.
The No. 15 Rebel women, meanwhile, are searching for their sixth straight NCAA berth after having never done so prior to 2016. Ole Miss received at-large tickets to the national meet in 2016, 2018 and 2020, earned an automatic qualifier bid in 2019 and won their first-ever NCAA South Region title in 2017.
Ole Miss is in the midst of a superb season that saw them come their closest to an SEC title in women's program history, falling short of perennial power Arkansas by 15 points. Sintayehu Vissa nearly ran a 6K career best amid difficult conditions to finish sixth overall, the best SEC individual finish in Ole Miss women's history.
That was just the latest benchmark for the Rebel women, who earned their top national ranking ever at No. 11 in the Week Five USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. Ole Miss has been superb at pack running, winning the North Alabama Showcase at a scoring spread of 31.9 seconds, finishing sixth amidst a strong field at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational at a spread of 46.2 seconds, fourth at Florida State's Pre-Nationals at 32.8 seconds and runner-up at SEC's at 50.9 seconds – yielding an average spread of just 40.5 seconds. At Notre Dame and Pre-Nationals, the Rebel women beat out a combined 12 other ranked schools and finished behind eight schools who held an average national ranking of 6.9.
Vissa was the top finisher for Ole Miss as well at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational, but it's been a true team effort for the Rebels in 2021. Cate Tracht was fourth at the Memphis Twilight on Sept. 4, Skylar Boogerd won the individual title amidst a powerful team showing at the North Alabama Showcase on Sept. 17 (for which she was named SEC Runner of the Week), and Anna Elkin was the frontrunner for Ole Miss at Pre-Nats with a 17th-place performance.
Other Rebel women running in Huntsville tomorrow morning include Second-Team All-SEC runner Ryann Helmers, Clio Ozanne-Jaques, Kristel van den Berg, Lydia van Dijk and Loral Winn.
Competition begins at 8:30 a.m. CT with the women's 6K, followed by the men's 10K at 9:30 a.m. CT.
Men's NCAA South Region Rankings
1. #19 Ole Miss
2. #23 Florida State
3. Alabama
4. North Florida
5. Middle Tennessee
6. Tennessee
7. Lipscomb
8. Belmont
9. Florida
10. Georgia
11. South Alabama
12. ETSU
13. Georgia Tech
14. Auburn
15. Tennessee Tech
Women's NCAA South Region Rankings
1. #9 Florida State
2. #15 Ole Miss
3. #11 Alabama
4. Tennessee
5. Georgia Tech
6. Florida
7. Lipscomb
8. Vanderbilt
9. Middle Tennessee
10. Auburn
11. Georgia
12. Southern Miss
13. Miami
14. UCF
15. Jacksonville
Ole Miss Men's Regional Roster
Cade Bethmann
Cole Bullock
Michael Coccia
Cruz Culpepper
Dereck Elkins
Mario Garcia Romo
Nick Moulai
Ben Savino
Ole Miss Women's Regional Roster
Skylar Boogerd
Anna Elkin
Ryann Helmers
Clio Ozanne-Jaques
Sintayehu Vissa
Kristel van den Berg
Lydia van Dijk
Loral Winn
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
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