JONESBORO, Ark. (11/10/22) – Coveted spots in the 31-team NCAA Cross Country Championships are on the line this weekend, as the Arkansas State cross country squads vie to be one of the top two finishers in Friday’s NCAA South Central Regional Championships.

Held at the Watts Cross Country Course in Bryan-College Station, Texas, the meet gets underway at 8:30 a.m. with the women’s 6K, followed by the men’s 10K slated for a 9:30 a.m. starting gun.

In last season’s regional championships, A-State’s men finished just one spot out of qualifying as a team for the national meet, placing third overall – the highest finish in program history. The women earned a seventh-place team result in the meet.

THE COMPETITION (WOMEN – 29): Arkansas State, Abilene Christian, Arkansas, Baylor, Central Arkansas, Houston, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Lamar, Little Rock, Louisiana, LSU, McNeese State, New Orleans, Nicholls State, North Texas, Rice, Sam Houston, SMU, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M (host), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TCU, Texas State, Tulane, ULM, UT-Rio Grande Valley, UTSA

THE COMPETITION (MEN – 27): Arkansas State, Abilene Christian, Arkansas, Baylor, Central Arkansas, Houston, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Lamar, Little Rock, Louisiana, LSU, McNeese State, New Orleans, Nicholls State, North Texas, Rice, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M (host), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TCU, Tulane, UT Arlington, UT-Rio Grande Valley, UTSA

THREE THINGS TO NOTE:

1. HOW THIS WORKS – The NCAA Cross Country Championships is one of the hardest championship events to qualify for on the team side, with just 31 spots. There are nine regions, with the top two finishing teams in each regional championships earning an automatic qualifier bid (18 total automatic bids). The other 13 are filled as at-large spots selected by the NCAA DI Cross Country Subcommittee. Individually, the top four runners not on an automatic qualifying or at-large team secure an automatic bid, while there are also two at-large individual bids up for grabs as well.
2. AWARDS SZN – A-State once again racked up some Sun Belt Conference honors following the championships. Jesse Duvall earned his second straight Men’s Coach of the Year honor, while Rylan Brown was tabbed the league’s Newcomer of the Year. Nati Enright was the top freshman finisher, receiving the Men’s Freshman of the Year after placing seventh overall.
3. LAST TIME OUT – Arkansas State got off to a strong start to championship season, earning a pair of top-two finishes at the Sun Belt Conference Championships, with the men taking their second straight championship behind seven all-conference finishers. A-State’s women finished as runners-up, with two runners earning top-10 results.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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