XC CENTRAL: NCAA South Region Championships

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Tennessee continues the cross country postseason Friday morning with the NCAA South Region Championships at Apalachee Regional Park.

The women's 6K will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the men's 10K at 9:30 a.m. Both races will be streamed courtesy of the NCAA.

This meet serves as one of nine regional qualifying events for the NCAA final site championships, which will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, on Nov. 17. The top two teams automatically advance from regional sites, as do the top four individual runners not a member of those teams.

The top 25 individuals earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors. Senior Zach Long and junior Megan Murray both earned all-region accolades last season.

The Tennessee men have won their NCAA Regional seven times (1975, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1994, 1995 and 2002). The UT women won the 1977 AIAW Region 2 meet, the 1983 NCAA District 3 meet and four NCAA South Regionals (the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005).

This is the fourth time Apalachee Regional Park has served as the site of the regional meet; Florida State also hosted in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

PREVIEWING THE TENNESSEE MEN
SEC Meet Finish: 4th
USTFCCCA South Region Ranking: 2nd
USTFCCCA National Ranking: 30th
2017 NCAA South Region Finish: 5th

Vols Competing:
Max Barbour (So.)
Nick Brey (Sr.)
Alex Crigger (So.)
Gashaw Duhamel (Jr.)
Georde Goodwyn (Fr.)
Andre Hillsman (Sr.)
Zach Long (Sr.)
Wesley Robinson (Sr.)
Brad Swiney (Sr.)
Karl Thiessen (Fr.)

Teams in the USTFCCCA National Rankings:
No. 17 - Ole Miss
No. 30 - Tennessee

Senior leadership and young talent in the front of the lineup has led the Vols to their finest season in more than a decade. Tennessee is nationally ranked (No. 30) for the first time since 2005 and the team is currently ranked second in the region, the highest in program history. The Vols are looking to qualify for the NCAA final site for the first time since 1998.

Last time out, the Vols finished fourth at the SEC championships, led by a 15th-place breakout run for sophomore Alex Crigger. Karl Thiessen took home SEC All-Freshman Team honors for his 16th-place performance at the conference meet. Senior Zach Long, the No. 1 runner for the Vols most of his career, took 21st at the NCAA South Regional meet last year to earn All-Region honors. He won his first career race earlier this season at the Auburn Invitational 6K.

Tennessee's advancement to nationals will hinge strongly on the performances of the fourth and fifth scorers, roles that have been filled this season primarily by seniors Nick Brey and Wesley Robinson. Redshirt senior Andre Hillsman was the fourth scorer at the SEC meet, finishing 30th overall. Junior Gashaw Duhamel put together his best season by far and was the Vols' sixth finisher at SECs.

Middle Tennessee (71 points) and Ole Miss (76 points) took the top two team qualifying spots last year. Ole Miss won the SEC team championship this year.

PREVIEWING THE TENNESSEE WOMEN
2017 SEC Finish: 7th
USTFCCCA South Region Ranking: 8th
2017 NCAA South Region Finish: 10th

Lady Vols Competing:
Sarah McCabe (Fr.)
Peighton Meske (Sr.)
Megan Murray (Jr.)
Alaina Riordan (So.)
Jessica Rizor (Sr.)
Sydney Seymour (Fr.)
Abigail Smith (So.)
Katie Thronson (Fr.)

Teams in the USTFCCCA National Rankings:
No. 21 - Florida
No. 23 - Ole Miss
No. 29 - Georgia
No. 30 - Georgia Tech

The Tennessee women have taken steps forward from last year's results, going from 10th to seventh at the SEC meet next month. Now, the Lady Vols look to improve on last year's 10th-place regional finish.

Freshman Katie Thronson and junior Megan Murray have been the team's frontrunners all year. Thronson earned second-team All-SEC honors for her 14th-place finish at the conference meet. Murray, a returning all-region runner, also placed in the top 20 with an 18th-place finish.

Senior Peighton Meske has put together her finest season by far to help lift the Lady Vols, running as the third and fourth scorer all season. She has four top-25 finishes, including two inside the top 10. Freshman Sydney Seymour and sophomore Alaina Riordan have also provided consistent results this season and the fourth and fifth runners. With only one of Tennessee's top five graduating, the Lady Vols have put building blocks in place for present -- and future -- success.

Ole Miss (59 points) and Georgia (73 points) qualified to the NCAA final site as the top two teams at regionals last year.

QUOTES
Beth Alford-Sullivan, Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
"This meet lends a lot of challenges. It's the NCAA qualifying round to the final. We go to the south region. The first challenge is the heat. By the time the men are racing, it'll be 75 to 80 degrees. Also, it's a large field with 200 to 250 athletes, so we just have to focus on competing within ourselves. Our men move to a 8K to a 10K race. It's a challenge for the men to move up in distance. I think our men's team is really well prepared. We go into it with some of our highest rankings. It'll be a good battle for second place. Our women are ranked eighth and a top-10 finish is well within their reach. We're excited to get it started. Everyone's healthy and feeling good. When we go into Friday, we're going to give it everything we've got. Our front runners need to be strong, but we need to have some great depth show up this weekend."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Max Barbour

Nick Brey

Alex Crigger

Gashaw Duhamel

Georde Goodwyn

Andre Hillsman

Zach Long

Sarah McCabe

Peighton Meske

Megan Murray

Alaina Riordan

Jessica Rizor

Wesley Robinson

Sydney Seymour

Abigail Smith

Brad Swiney

Karl Thiessen

Katie Thronson

University of Tennessee Athletics