Cross Country Seeks Strong Finish at NCAA Championships

			2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships Saturday, November 20 • 9 a.m. CT • Tallahassee, Fla. Women's 6K: 9:20 a.m. CT • Men's 10K: 10:10 a.m. CT Apalachee Regional Park
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ole Miss men's and women's cross country will look to finish strong on the national stage, as both squads will conclude their seasons at the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships at Florida State's Apalachee Regional Park on Saturday morning. Both races will air live and commercial-free on ESPNU beginning at 9 a.m. CT, with the women's championship 6K scheduled for 9:20 a.m. CT and the men's championship 10K race for 10:10 a.m. CT.

Ole Miss – which enters ranked a program-record No. 9 on the women's side and No. 15 on the men's – is one of just 22 schools nationally to have qualified both men and women for the national meet, one of 10 to have both squads earn automatic qualifying bids (top-two at regional meet), one of three nationally to have swept their regional titles (alongside Notre Dame and Stanford), and one of just five schools to have qualified both men and women each of the last six years (alongside Arkansas, BYU, Colorado and Stanford).

Not only have both Rebel squads qualified for the national meet these last six years, but when they've been there, they've produced results. Ole Miss stands as one of just four schools nationally to have men and women finish top-25 each of the last five national meets alongside BYU, Colorado and Stanford.

The Rebels are in the midst of a cross country renaissance under track & field and cross country head coach Connie Price-Smith and associate head coach Ryan Vanhoy, who have brought both the men's and women's programs to new heights. After having never qualified for NCAAs prior to 2014, the Ole Miss men are now on their eighth consecutive trip to the national meet – the pinnacle of which was a fourth-place podium finish in 2016. The Rebel men have been historically great as of late, winning two SEC titles in the last four years (the first conference titles in program history) and five of the last seven NCAA South Region titles.

The Ole Miss women have been on an equally historic trajectory, but the 2021 season has been one for the ages. The Rebel women came within 15 points of their first SEC title (their closest finish ever) and set two different program record national rankings – first earning a No. 11 slot in Week Five before earning their first top-10 appearance at No. 9 this week. Ole Miss has qualified for nationals on the women's side in each of the last six seasons after having never done so prior to 2016, and have finished third or better at the SEC Championships in the same timespan after having never earning a top-three spot prior. The Rebel women are looking to make it four straight years of claiming a program record team finish at NCAAs following a 22nd-place showing in 2018, a 21st-place finish in 2019 and a huge improvement to their current record of 12th place in 2020.

Women's Championship 6K Preview • 9:20 a.m. CT

No. 9 Ole Miss Women • NCAA Roster
Name • 6K Season-Best
Skylar Boogerd • 20:56.00
Anna Elkin • 20:05.85 (PR)
Ryann Helmers • 20:17.04 (PR)
Clio Ozanne-Jaques • 20:25.52
Sintayehu Vissa • 19:54.65 (PR)
Kristel van den Berg • 20:25.30 (PR)
Lydia van Dijk • 20:33.60 (PR)
Loral Winn • 20:46.60 (PR)

NCAA Team Finish History
2016 – 23rd
2017 – 25th
2018 – 22nd
2019 – 21st
2020 – 12th

The No. 9 Rebel women have been impressive in 2021 not just because of their records and achievements, but also due to how tightly they've been running at a high level. Ole Miss has an average scoring spread of 38.1 seconds on the entire season: 36.6 seconds in a season-opening win at the Memphis Twilight on Sept. 4, 31.9 seconds in a demonstrative victory at the North Alabama Showcase on Sept. 17, 46.2 seconds in a strong sixth-place showing at Notre Dame on Oct. 1, 32.8 seconds in an impressive fourth-place finish on this very course for the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 15, 50.9 seconds in a close runner-up finish at the SEC Championships, and 30.4 seconds last week in their NCAA South Region title winning performance – the second in program history and first since 2017.

Junior Sintayehu Vissa has been a force for the Rebels in her first full cross country season at Ole Miss. Vissa – who enrolled just this past January and finished 59th in her first cross country race as a Rebel at the rescheduled 2020 NCAA Championships in March – has steadily dropped massive chunks off her career-bests. Vissa opened at UNA with an incredible 2:28 drop on her 5K PR from Division II Saint Leo at 16:36.58 before dropping four more seconds at Notre Dame to 16:32.4. In her first 6K at Pre-Nats, she clipped off 49 seconds from her D2 PR at 20:15.4, she nearly ran another 6K best in hazardous conditions at SECs at 20:16.7 to notch the highest SEC finish ever by a Rebel woman (sixth), and last week she dropped another 21 seconds down to 19:54.65 for NCAA All-South Region honors – the fastest 6K time by a Rebel since 2018.

It has been a true team effort for Ole Miss, though, as four different Rebels including Vissa have led the way in six races this year. Fifth-year senior Anna Elkin, back for one final cross country season, has been just as consistently great for the Rebels. Elkin earned her second career All-Region honor last week after finishing 10th overall at a 6K PR of 20:05.85. Elkin has been the top Rebel runner at the national meet in each of the last two seasons, with her 49th-place finish in 2020 ranking as the best ever by a Rebel woman.

Fellow All-Region runner Ryann Helmers has been a steady rock for Ole Miss, running in either the second or third position for the Rebels in each of her five races this season. Other Rebels earning All-Region honors were Kristel van den Berg and Clio Ozanne-Jaques, who returns to the national meet for the third time in her career.

Also on the NCAA roster for Ole Miss are Skylar Boogerd, Lydia van Dijk and Loral Winn – who posted a 60th-place national finish for the Rebels last season.

Men's Championship 10K Preview • 10:10 a.m. CT

No. 15 Ole Miss Men • NCAA Roster
Name • 10K Season-Best
Cade Bethmann • 30:32.86 (PR)
Cole Bullock • 29:51.45 (PR)
Michael Coccia • 29:51.55 (PR)
Cruz Culpepper • No time
Dereck Elkins • 29:51.23 (PR)
Mario Garcia Romo • 29:51.29 (PR)
Nick Moulai • 30:21.53 (PR)
Ben Savino • 30:29.49 (PR)

NCAA Team History
2014 – 29th
2015 – 30th
2016 – 4th
2017 – 18th
2018 – 17th
2019 – 22nd
2020 – 12th

The No. 15 Rebel men are coming off their best race of the season at the NCAA South Regional, where they captured their fifth title in the last seven years thanks to a program-record seven All-Region runners and four sub-30 10Ks in the first 10K attempt of the season.

Ole Miss comes into NCAAs with a depth of experience. Of the eight Rebels on the NCAA roster this season, six have run at the national meet before. The lone newcomers to the big stage are redshirt freshman Cruz Culpepper (who is in his first cross country season), and junior transfer Dereck Elkins, who is coming off a career-day at the NCAA South Regional.

Elkins led a powerful pack of four who nearly crossed the line at the same time at the regional meet, running 29:51.23 in just the second cross country 10K of his career. The other three Rebels right behind him were stalwarts Mario Garica Romo (29:51.29), Cole Bullock (29:51.45) and Michael Coccia (29:51.55), who all broke 30 minutes in the 10K for the first time in their careers as well.

Bullock and Garcia Romo are the top two returning standouts from last season's 12th-place team, with both earning All-American honors following top-40 individual finishes. Bullock was 18th overall, the fourth-best individual finish by a Rebel men's runner ever at the national meet behind Barnabas Kirui in 2009 (fourth), MJ Erb in 2016 (sixth) and Sean Tobin in 2017 (12th). Garcia Romo, two-time SEC medalist, was 30th overall to mark just the second time Ole Miss has ever recorded multiple All-Americans in one national cross country meet.

Other Rebel men on the NCAA roster include fellow All-Region runners Cade Bethmann and Ben Savino in their third national meets, as well as Nick Moulai in his second after debuting last season.

For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Cade Bethmann

Skylar Boogerd

Cole Bullock

Michael Coccia

Cruz Culpepper

Anna Elkin

Dereck Elkins

Mario Garcia Romo

Ryann Helmers

Nick Moulai

Clio Ozanne-Jaques

Ben Savino

Kristel van den Berg

Lydia van Dijk

Sintayehu Vissa

Loral Winn

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