The Emory University men's and women's cross country teams each took home the South/Southeast Regional trophy and earned bids to compete at the NCAA DIII Championships next weekend. This marks the second consecutive regional championship for the men and is the first regional championship for the women since 2018. The meet was held at the Miliken Park in Spartanburg, SC.
The No. 20 ranked Emory's men's cross country team had all seven of its runners finish within the top 17 for a score of 47 points and a first place overall finish. This marks the eighth consecutive year the Eagles have earned a trip to the NCAA DIII Championships. Finishing in second were the No. 23 ranked Hornets of Lynchburg (80 points) with the Christopher Newport Captains (110 points) finishing the race in third.
Senior's Brett Lucas (25:26.0) and Spencer Moore (25:27.2) finished the race side by side with Lucas just edging out Moore to earn themselves a 4th and 5th place finish, respectively. This marked Lucas's third consecutive race leading the pack for the Eagles. Also finishing in the top 10 was fellow senior John Cox who crossed the finish line in 25:45.3 good for a 10th place finish. Freshman David Evans turned in one of his best performances of the season clocking a time of 25:53.1 earning himself a 13th place finish. Closing out scoring for the Eagles was junior Andrew Pahnke who registered a 26:08.2 resulting in a 15th place finish. The other two runners for Emory, junior Justin Pecore (26:12.6) and sophomore Tristan Olpin (26:16.4), finished in 16th and 17th place, respectively. Each of Emory's runners earned all-region distinctions as a result of all of them finishing within the top-35.
The No. 22 ranked Emory's women's cross country team had six runners finish within the top 13 to give the Eagles a resounding victory, scoring a season best 31 points and earning the automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Championships. This marks the Eagles 16th consecutive trip to the NCAA DIII Championships. The No. 31 ranked Hornets of Lynchburg (54 points) finished in second while the Washington & Lee Generals (116 points) finished third.
Junior Annika Urban turned in her best performance of the season to pace the field of 163 runners and earn the individual South/Southeast regional crown. Urban's time of 21:43.1 blew everyone away, pacing the field by over a minute, and also marked the seventh best time in the 6k in program history. Senior Bella Racette had a career-defining race of her own, finishing in 22:46.8, beating her previous PR by over 20 seconds, and finishing in third overall. Freshman Liesl Scherrer continued her outstanding season registering a time of 22:52.3 good for a fifth place finish. In just her second meet of the season, graduate Shannon Marsh (23:19.1) became the fourth Eagle runner to finish in the top ten, finishing in 10th place. Not far behind were junior Lauren Anshen (23:25.1) and sophomore Helena Kummings (23:30.2) who finished in 12th and 13th place, respectively. By virtue of finishing within the top-35, all six runners for the Eagles earned all-region honors.
The Emory Cross Country Program, led by Head Coach Linh Nguyen in his second full year at the helm for the Eagles, will now prepare for next Saturday's NCAA DIII National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. That meet will take place at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park. The Eagles will be familiar with the course, as they competed on the trail in early October when the teams participated in the Louisville Classic.