The University of Mississippi Athletics
Cross Country Men No. 15, Women No. 26 in Pre-Championship USTFCCCA Poll
3/6/2021 | Cross Country
NCAA Cross Country Selection Show Set for Sunday at Noon CT
NEW ORLEANS – Ole Miss men's and women's cross country are both nationally ranked heading into the final week of the delayed 2020 cross country season, with the men coming in at No. 15 and the women No. 26 in the pre-championship USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll Rankings released on Friday.
The 2020 season, which was prolonged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will reach its conclusion on Monday, March 15, when the rescheduled NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Despite being in the midst of an excellent indoor track season, both Rebel squads will hope to hear their name called on the NCAA Selection Show, which is scheduled for Sunday, March 7, at 12 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
Entering 2020, Ole Miss stood in the upper echelon of the NCAA as one of just four programs nationally to have both its men's and women's teams finish top-25 in each of the last four national meets alongside BYU, Colorado and Stanford. A national berth for the men would be their seventh in a row after having never qualified prior to 2014. It will be a similar story for the Rebel women, who are seeking their fifth straight trip to the national meet after having never done so prior to 2016.
Traditionally, the team and individual national berths are awarded via the NCAA Regional meets run one week prior to the national meet each November, but this season berths will be awarded via criteria established by a selection committee. After teams declare their intent to compete, the committee will weigh conference championship performances as well as the entire cross country season as a whole. Additionally, head-to-head competition will be considered as a factor.
Individual entries will be handled in a similar manner. The top individual finisher from each conference championship not attached to a qualifying team will advance, with a maximum of 32 individuals depending on how many conferences host a championship. The remaining individual spots will be selected at-large by the committee to fill the field to 38.
Ole Miss has now been ranked in 40 consecutive men's polls, as well as 46 of the last 51 dating back to 2014. Additionally, the Rebel men have been at least receiving votes in 49 of the last 51 polls.
The last time the No. 15 Ole Miss men hit a cross country course, the first three across the finish line were all Rebels. Ole Miss completed the first 1-2-3 conference sweep in school history at the SEC Championships back on Oct. 30, with SEC Runner of the Year Mario Garcia Romo taking the crown to become the third Rebel to ever win an SEC title. The sweep was just the 10th in conference history, and the first since Alabama did so in 2017. Ole Miss finished second in the team standings to No. 3 Arkansas.
Sophomore Cole Bullock took runner-up honors, while All-American Waleed Suliman finished third. The trio all earned First-Team All-SEC honors for their performances, and all three finished within two seconds of each other with Garcia Romo winning at 23:32.9, and Bullock and Suliman technically tying at 23:34.3.
Suliman is the first multiple All-American honoree in Ole Miss cross country history after finishing 36th in 2018 and 20th in 2019. Suliman (mile, 3K, DMR) and Garcia Romo (3K, DMR) are also both scheduled to run at the NCAA Indoor Championships a few days earlier over at Arkansas.
The Rebel women, meanwhile, jumped into the national polls back on Feb. 17 and have remained there for three straight polls – currently at that No. 26 slot. This is the 31st appearance for the Ole Miss women, who have been at least receiving votes each week this season and last.
Ole Miss took third at the SEC Championships in the women's race behind No. 1 Arkansas and No. 13 Alabama, holding off a late charge from Kentucky for their fifth straight top-three finish. Prior to 2016, the Rebel women had never finished in the top-three of an SEC meet.
Senior Anna Elkin led the way again, earning her first career All-SEC honors on the Second-Team with an eighth-place finish at a 16-second 6K PR of 20:15.9. Fellow senior Victoria Simmons earned her second straight Second-Team honor with a 14th-place showing at 20:37.8. Senior Emma McClellan also had a career day, notching a 26-second PR in 27th place at 20:55.2. Other Rebel scorers included Clio Ozanne-Jaques in 28th (20:58.7) and Ryann Helmers in 29th (21:02.4).
The NCAA Selection Show can be viewed live on NCAA.com beginning at 12 p.m. CT on Sunday, March 7. The 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held at Oklahoma State on Monday, March 15, and can be viewed live on ESPNU beginning at 11:30 a.m. CT, with a post-championship ceremony held live online on ESPN3 afterward. The women's championship 6K is set for 11:50 a.m. CT, and the men's championship 10K is scheduled afterward at 12:40 p.m. CT.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
The 2020 season, which was prolonged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will reach its conclusion on Monday, March 15, when the rescheduled NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Despite being in the midst of an excellent indoor track season, both Rebel squads will hope to hear their name called on the NCAA Selection Show, which is scheduled for Sunday, March 7, at 12 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
Entering 2020, Ole Miss stood in the upper echelon of the NCAA as one of just four programs nationally to have both its men's and women's teams finish top-25 in each of the last four national meets alongside BYU, Colorado and Stanford. A national berth for the men would be their seventh in a row after having never qualified prior to 2014. It will be a similar story for the Rebel women, who are seeking their fifth straight trip to the national meet after having never done so prior to 2016.
Traditionally, the team and individual national berths are awarded via the NCAA Regional meets run one week prior to the national meet each November, but this season berths will be awarded via criteria established by a selection committee. After teams declare their intent to compete, the committee will weigh conference championship performances as well as the entire cross country season as a whole. Additionally, head-to-head competition will be considered as a factor.
Individual entries will be handled in a similar manner. The top individual finisher from each conference championship not attached to a qualifying team will advance, with a maximum of 32 individuals depending on how many conferences host a championship. The remaining individual spots will be selected at-large by the committee to fill the field to 38.
Ole Miss has now been ranked in 40 consecutive men's polls, as well as 46 of the last 51 dating back to 2014. Additionally, the Rebel men have been at least receiving votes in 49 of the last 51 polls.
The last time the No. 15 Ole Miss men hit a cross country course, the first three across the finish line were all Rebels. Ole Miss completed the first 1-2-3 conference sweep in school history at the SEC Championships back on Oct. 30, with SEC Runner of the Year Mario Garcia Romo taking the crown to become the third Rebel to ever win an SEC title. The sweep was just the 10th in conference history, and the first since Alabama did so in 2017. Ole Miss finished second in the team standings to No. 3 Arkansas.
Sophomore Cole Bullock took runner-up honors, while All-American Waleed Suliman finished third. The trio all earned First-Team All-SEC honors for their performances, and all three finished within two seconds of each other with Garcia Romo winning at 23:32.9, and Bullock and Suliman technically tying at 23:34.3.
Suliman is the first multiple All-American honoree in Ole Miss cross country history after finishing 36th in 2018 and 20th in 2019. Suliman (mile, 3K, DMR) and Garcia Romo (3K, DMR) are also both scheduled to run at the NCAA Indoor Championships a few days earlier over at Arkansas.
The Rebel women, meanwhile, jumped into the national polls back on Feb. 17 and have remained there for three straight polls – currently at that No. 26 slot. This is the 31st appearance for the Ole Miss women, who have been at least receiving votes each week this season and last.
Ole Miss took third at the SEC Championships in the women's race behind No. 1 Arkansas and No. 13 Alabama, holding off a late charge from Kentucky for their fifth straight top-three finish. Prior to 2016, the Rebel women had never finished in the top-three of an SEC meet.
Senior Anna Elkin led the way again, earning her first career All-SEC honors on the Second-Team with an eighth-place finish at a 16-second 6K PR of 20:15.9. Fellow senior Victoria Simmons earned her second straight Second-Team honor with a 14th-place showing at 20:37.8. Senior Emma McClellan also had a career day, notching a 26-second PR in 27th place at 20:55.2. Other Rebel scorers included Clio Ozanne-Jaques in 28th (20:58.7) and Ryann Helmers in 29th (21:02.4).
The NCAA Selection Show can be viewed live on NCAA.com beginning at 12 p.m. CT on Sunday, March 7. The 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held at Oklahoma State on Monday, March 15, and can be viewed live on ESPNU beginning at 11:30 a.m. CT, with a post-championship ceremony held live online on ESPN3 afterward. The women's championship 6K is set for 11:50 a.m. CT, and the men's championship 10K is scheduled afterward at 12:40 p.m. CT.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
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