The Emory men’s and women’s cross country
teams recorded first-place finishes at the NCAA D-III
South/Southeast Regional Championships on Saturday. The
event was held at the Clara Bowl Course on the campus of
Berry College. By virtue of their finishes, both squads earn
automatic berths to the NCAA Championships next Saturday (Nov. 22)
in Mason, Ohio.
The men's side lived up to its pre-race billing as the No. 1 team
in the region, topping the 28-team field with 62 points.
Bridgewater College took home runner-up honors with 65 points while
Centre College was third (110 pts.). Christopher Newport (165
pts.) and Eastern Mennonite (170 pts.) rounded out the top five.
Emory saw four of its entries finish among the top 13 overall
finishers, led by sophomore Grant Murphy who clocked a
personal-best 8K time of 25:41 that placed sixth overall out of 201
runners. Junior Lukas Mees was the next Eagle to cross the
finish line, coming in at 25:48 which ranked ninth in the
field. Seniors Alex Fleischhacker (25:50) and Tyler Cooke
(25:52) held down the Nos. 11 and 13 positions, respectively, while
freshman Jordan Flowers rounded out the team’s scorers with a
time of 26:24, good for 23rd place. All five of
Emory’s scorers, as well as sophomore Austin Hunt (26:31,
28th place), earned All-South/Southeast Team honors.
The men’s first-place finish represents the
Eagles’ first Region Championship since 2009.
The 23rd-ranked women’s team paced the 29-team
field with 62 points, well ahead of Christopher Newport and Centre
College, each of whom finished with 125 points. It marked the
18th time in the past 24 seasons that Emory had claimed
the South/Southeast Regional title. Rhodes College was fourth
(137 pts.) and Mary Washington rounded out the top five with 142
points. Senior Tamara Surtees paced the Emory
contingent for the sixth straight meet, recording a 6K time of
22:14 that placed fourth out of 205 runners. Surtees'
performance enabled her to capture All-South/Southeast honors
for the fourth straight year. Senior Marissa Gogniat came
through with a big effort with her personal-best effort of 22:40
ranking second on the team and eighth overall. Freshman Halle
Markel was the third Eagle to score, posting a season-best mark of
23:01 that placed 13th in the field. Rounding out
Emory’s scorers were seniors Stephanie Crane (23:09,
18th place) and Elise Viox (23:10, 19th
place.). All five Eagle scorers captured all-region
accolades, as did sophomore Sophie Cemaj whose performance of 23:23
slotted her 25th.