The Emory University men's and women's cross country teams head into the homestretch of the season on Saturday (Nov. 11) when they compete at the NCAA South/Southeast Region Championships.  This year's competitions will be held at Lee Hall Mansion Course in Newport News, Virginia.  Serving as the host institution is Christopher Newport University.  The men's 8k race is slated to begin at 11:00 am, followed by the women's 6k at 12:15 pm.

There are eight regional championships being conducted around the country with the top two men's and women's teams from each regional earning automatic bids to the NCAA National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 18, in Elsah, Illinois.  In addition, there will be 16 at-large teams selected for both the men's and women's championships. 

The Emory women's team, ranked 26^th nationally and second in the region behind Trinity (TX), has enjoyed considerable success at the NCAA Regionals, logging first-place efforts in 20 of the past 26 seasons.  In 2016, the Eagles ventured to Rome, Ga., and topped a 27-team field with 68 points, well ahead of runner-up Rhodes College's 103 points.  The Eagles saw all five of their scorers earn all-region kudos by virtue of finishing among the top 35.  This year's squad has been paced by senior Gabrielle Stravach, who has ranked as the Eagles' No. 1 runner in all five of her of its competitions.  In her most recent outing, Stravach raced to First Team All-UAA honors after finishing second at the conference championships (Oct. 28), where she helped Emory to a third-place finish.  Freshman Abby Durfee has scored for the Eagles in all six of her meets while junior Kaylee Slade has ranked among the team's top five in four of five competitions.

The men's team is slotted in the No. 26 position nationally and is third in the region behind Christopher Newport and Rhodes College.  Last year, the Eagles finished third at the Regional and eventually earned an at-large bid to nationals.  Emory returns two all-region performers in junior Bennett Shaw and senior Shane Sullivan.  Sullivan is coming a strong effort at UAAs where he crossed the finish line in third place out of 77 entries, earning First Team All-UAA acclaim in the process.  Shaw has placed among Emory's top five runners in all five of his competitions this fall, while sophomore Marty Pimentel has scored in four of his five races.