The University of Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, November 23
Madison, Wis.
9:20 AM
Ole Miss
vs
NCAA Championships
Cross Country Heads North for 2024 NCAA Championships
11/22/2024 | Cross Country
MADISON, Wis. – Ole Miss cross country will look for a strong finish on the national stage as the Rebel men's team and women's senior Loral Winn will conclude their seasons at the 2024 NCAA Championships at the Thomas Zimmerman Championship Cross Country Course on Saturday morning. Both races will air live and commercial-free on ESPNU, which will begin its coverage at 8:30 a.m. CT and will be followed by the women's championship 6K at 9:20 a.m. CT and the men's championship 10K at 10:10 a.m. CT.
At last week's NCAA South Regional in Tallahassee, Florida, Winn led the Rebel women in the 6K with a sixth-place finish, which was good enough to snag an at-large individual ticket to nationals. Meanwhile, the men earned an automatic bid with an impressive second-place team finish in the 10K.
This marks the ninth consecutive season that Ole Miss will be represented in both men's and women's competition at the NCAA Championships either as a team or as an individual. For the Rebel men this marks their 11th consecutive appearance with at least an individual or a team since 2014, and for the Ole Miss women this marks their ninth consecutive appearance with at least an individual or a team since 2016.
Women's Championship 6K Preview • 9:20 a.m. CT
When senior Loral Winn toes the line in Madison this Saturday, it will mark the conclusion to one of the more decorated careers in Ole Miss women's cross country history.
As a Rebel, Winn is a three-time NCAA All-South Region honoree, a three-time All-SEC runner, and she owns the most sub-20 6K times of any Ole Miss woman in recorded program history with six – including two this season. Winn still has an outdoor season of eligibility left this coming spring in track – where she is a two-time All-American – but in the meantime the seven-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree will continue her work as a sideline reporter with Ole Miss' SEC Network+ crew.
After leading the pack for the women all season long, Winn finished sixth in the South Regionals to secure an individual at-large bid to the national meet in the 6K at 20:07.7 to earn All-Region honors for the third time in her career. This will be Winn's fourth career trip to the national cross country meet, who ran as part of the Ole Miss women's qualifying teams in 2020, 2021, and 2023.
Winn is one of three Rebel women to ever qualify as an individual alongside Katie Breathitt (2012) and Ryann Helmers (2022), and she will look to become just the third All-American in program history alongside Sintayehu Vissa (33rd, 2021) and Helmers (23rd, 2023).
Men's Championship 10K Preview • 10:10 a.m. CT
No. 27 Ole Miss Men • NCAA Roster
Elyas Ayyoub
Benjamin Bayless
Aiden Britt
Toby Gillen
Jack Meijer
Chase Rose
Gabe Scales
Evan Thornton-Sherman
NCAA Team Finish History
2014 – 29th
2015 – 30th
2016 – 4th
2017 – 18th
2018 – 17th
2019 – 22nd
2020 – 12th
2021 – 15th
2022 – 24th
A month ago, Ole Miss' postseason hopes seemed to be in jeopardy. But a strong third-place effort at SECs and an automatic qualifying runner-up finish at the NCAA South Regional has sent the Rebel men to Wisconsin and given them a No. 27 national rank heading into the national meet.
Junior Toby Gillen led the way for the Rebel men all season long, earning Second-Team All-SEC honors with an eighth-place finish in the SEC Championship 8K with a 31-second PR of 22:41.3 (the fastest 8K by a Rebel men's runner in available records since at least 2007) and All-Region honors for the second straight year with a sixth-place finish in the 10K at 29:51.1.
Senior LIU transfer Elyas Ayyoub has been a key contributor to the Rebel men's postseason berth. He earned Second-Team All-SEC honors with a 12th-place finish in the 8K at a massive personal best of 23:00.6 – which also earned him the SEC Newcomer of the Year award. Ayyoub continued to impress at the South Regional with another personal best of 29:53.9 in the 10K, finishing seventh behind Gillen for All-Region honors.
Junior Maine transfer Evan Thornton-Sherman and senior Aiden Britt both contributed to the Rebel men's scoring this season as well. Thornton-Sherman's 15th place SEC finish at 23:04.1 earned Third-Team All-SEC honors and helped push the men's to a third-place finish.
Meanwhile, Britt had an All-Region performance, finishing 13th in the 10K at 30:25.8 that would help the men secure a second place finish and the automatic bid to nationals.
At last week's NCAA South Regional in Tallahassee, Florida, Winn led the Rebel women in the 6K with a sixth-place finish, which was good enough to snag an at-large individual ticket to nationals. Meanwhile, the men earned an automatic bid with an impressive second-place team finish in the 10K.
This marks the ninth consecutive season that Ole Miss will be represented in both men's and women's competition at the NCAA Championships either as a team or as an individual. For the Rebel men this marks their 11th consecutive appearance with at least an individual or a team since 2014, and for the Ole Miss women this marks their ninth consecutive appearance with at least an individual or a team since 2016.
Women's Championship 6K Preview • 9:20 a.m. CT
When senior Loral Winn toes the line in Madison this Saturday, it will mark the conclusion to one of the more decorated careers in Ole Miss women's cross country history.
As a Rebel, Winn is a three-time NCAA All-South Region honoree, a three-time All-SEC runner, and she owns the most sub-20 6K times of any Ole Miss woman in recorded program history with six – including two this season. Winn still has an outdoor season of eligibility left this coming spring in track – where she is a two-time All-American – but in the meantime the seven-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree will continue her work as a sideline reporter with Ole Miss' SEC Network+ crew.
After leading the pack for the women all season long, Winn finished sixth in the South Regionals to secure an individual at-large bid to the national meet in the 6K at 20:07.7 to earn All-Region honors for the third time in her career. This will be Winn's fourth career trip to the national cross country meet, who ran as part of the Ole Miss women's qualifying teams in 2020, 2021, and 2023.
Winn is one of three Rebel women to ever qualify as an individual alongside Katie Breathitt (2012) and Ryann Helmers (2022), and she will look to become just the third All-American in program history alongside Sintayehu Vissa (33rd, 2021) and Helmers (23rd, 2023).
Men's Championship 10K Preview • 10:10 a.m. CT
No. 27 Ole Miss Men • NCAA Roster
Elyas Ayyoub
Benjamin Bayless
Aiden Britt
Toby Gillen
Jack Meijer
Chase Rose
Gabe Scales
Evan Thornton-Sherman
NCAA Team Finish History
2014 – 29th
2015 – 30th
2016 – 4th
2017 – 18th
2018 – 17th
2019 – 22nd
2020 – 12th
2021 – 15th
2022 – 24th
A month ago, Ole Miss' postseason hopes seemed to be in jeopardy. But a strong third-place effort at SECs and an automatic qualifying runner-up finish at the NCAA South Regional has sent the Rebel men to Wisconsin and given them a No. 27 national rank heading into the national meet.
Junior Toby Gillen led the way for the Rebel men all season long, earning Second-Team All-SEC honors with an eighth-place finish in the SEC Championship 8K with a 31-second PR of 22:41.3 (the fastest 8K by a Rebel men's runner in available records since at least 2007) and All-Region honors for the second straight year with a sixth-place finish in the 10K at 29:51.1.
Senior LIU transfer Elyas Ayyoub has been a key contributor to the Rebel men's postseason berth. He earned Second-Team All-SEC honors with a 12th-place finish in the 8K at a massive personal best of 23:00.6 – which also earned him the SEC Newcomer of the Year award. Ayyoub continued to impress at the South Regional with another personal best of 29:53.9 in the 10K, finishing seventh behind Gillen for All-Region honors.
Junior Maine transfer Evan Thornton-Sherman and senior Aiden Britt both contributed to the Rebel men's scoring this season as well. Thornton-Sherman's 15th place SEC finish at 23:04.1 earned Third-Team All-SEC honors and helped push the men's to a third-place finish.
Meanwhile, Britt had an All-Region performance, finishing 13th in the 10K at 30:25.8 that would help the men secure a second place finish and the automatic bid to nationals.
Players Mentioned
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