The Emory University men's and women's cross country teams head into the homestretch of the season on Saturday (Nov. 10) when they compete at the NCAA South/Southeast Region Championships.  This year's competitions will be held at the Clara Bowl Course on the campus of Berry College.  The women's 6k race is slated to begin at 11:00 am, followed by the men's 8k 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. 17, in Winneconne, Wisconsin.  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 19^th nationally and first in the region has enjoyed considerable success at the NCAA Regionals, logging first-place efforts in 20 of the past 27 seasons.  In 2017, the Eagles ventured to Newport News, Va., where it finished second out of 34 teams with 83 points.  Trinity (TX) captured the top spot with 80 points.  The Eagles saw all five of their scorers earn all-region kudos by virtue of finishing among the top 35 including current members Kaylee Slade, Kayla O'Shea and Abby Durfee.   Slade has paced this year's squad, ranking as the Eagles' No. 1 runner in all five of her competitions.  In her most recent outing, Slade raced to Second Team All-UAA honors after finishing eighth at the conference championships (Oct. 28).  Sophomore Susie Martin has been a scorer in all five of her races while O'Shea has scored in four of five.

The men's team is slotted in the No. 31 position nationally and is second in the region behind Rhodes College.   Last year, the Eagles finished third at the Regional and eventually earned an at-large bid to nationals.  Emory returns three all-region performers in senior Bennett Shaw and the junior duo of Luis Torres and Sam Branson.  Branson has finished as the Eagles' first or second runner in all five of his competitions while Torres has scored in his last three races.  Shaw, along with sophomores Jack Whetstone and Matt Dillon, have figured in the Eagles' scoring endeavors in four of five meets.