The Emory men’s and women’s cross country teams rose to the occasion Saturday at the NCAA South/Southeast Region Championships with both squads posting second-place finishes and in the process qualifying for next weekend’s NCAA Division III Championships.  The South/Southeast Region Championships were held at the Lee Hall Mansion Course in Newport News., Va., and hosted by Christopher Newport University.

The men’s side, competing in a 24-team field, recorded 91 points and trailed only Bridgewater’s (Va.) top mark of 74 points.  Centre College was third (104 pts.) while host CNU was fourth with 175 points. Texas-Tyler rounded out the top five with 196 points. Senior Eddie Mulder came through with a big race, covering the 8k course in a personal-best time of 25:17, good for seventh place out of 174 runners.  Junior Tyler Cooke clocked a personal-best time of 25:41 that ranked 13^th in the field while senior Hank Ashforth aided in the cause, crossing the finish line in a personal-best time 25:54 that placed him 19^th.  Senior Alex Fleischhacker (22^nd, 25:59) and junior Patrick Crews (30^th, 26:11) rounded out the team’s scorers.  All of the Eagles’ scorers captured All-Region acclaim by virtue of their respective finishes.  Emory will be competing at the NCAA Championships for the first time since the 2009 season.

The Emory women continued their long history of being successful at Regionals with this year’s runner-up spot in the 27-team field representing the 18^th time over the last 23 seasons that it had finished second or better.  The Eagles totaled 76 points, trailing only Trinity’s 36 points.  Bridgewater (106 pts.) and Centre College (149 pts.) were third and fourth, respectively, with Rhodes rounding out the top five (172 pts.). The Eagles had three runners rank among the top 13 finishers out of 193 entries, led by junior Tamara Surtees who recorded a sixth-place effort with a career-best tying 6k time of 22:37.  Senior Emily Caesar claimed the No. 8 overall position with an effort of 22:38 while junior Marissa Gogniat was 13^th in the field, turning in a 22:59.  Freshman Michelle Kagei (23^rd., 23:17) and senior Meredith Lorch (26^th, 23:24) accounted for the Eagles’ other scorers.  Lorch’s time was a personal best and Kagei’s a season best.  All five of the Emory scorers were All-Region honorees as was junior Elise Viox who finished 30^th (23:30).  

The NCAA D-III Championships will be held on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Hanover, Indiana.