The Ole Miss Cross Country teams competed in the SEC Championships on Friday, Oct. 31. The men’s team finished No. 10 in the eight-kilometer distance, and the women’s team finished No. 11 in the six-kilometer distance.
This year, the University of Tennessee hosted the championship at the Cherokee Farm Course. Just across the Tennessee River, the course is only a few minutes from the Knoxville campus.
Men
The Rebel men got off to a hot start, and they were ranked No. 5 through the three-kilometer mark.
Around the five-kilometer mark, six runners began to separate themselves from the rest of the field. One of these was Ole Miss redshirt junior Kidus Misgina. The pack race continued with some minor separation, and Misgina finished No. 6 overall with a time of 23:24.3.
However, when the race started picking up speed, the Rebels began to slip in the team standings. They finished No. 10 with 190 points. Alabama won the meet with 64 points, followed by Georgia in second with 123 points and Oklahoma third with 126 points.
Other Rebel scorers included senior Toby Gillen, who finished No. 35 (24:16.18), and redshirt senior Marco Perez, who finished No. 40 (24:22.33). Senior Evan Thornton-Sherman and redshirt sophomore Zach Gilbertson rounded out the Top five with their No. 53 and No. 58 finishes, respectively.
Women
In the six-kilometer race, the women’s team finished No. 11, led by a No. 41 finish from senior Sophie Baumann (21:05.51). Only 55 seconds separated their first and fifth runners; this spread was the second best in the entire race, just behind team champion Florida’s mark of 48 seconds.
Redshirt senior Beth Arentz also finished at No. 49 with a time of 21:12.28. The other Lady Rebel scorers were freshman Leah Penick (No. 53), redshirt sophomore Ella Johnson (No. 76) and junior Adie Luna (No. 82).
Though the cross country teams may not have had the finish that fans hoped for, the Rebels competed well against a loaded field that included many nationally ranked teams, including five ranked teams in the women’s race, and five (including Ole Miss) on the men’s side.
What’s next?
Both teams will travel to Huntsville, Ala., for the NCAA South Regional on Nov. 14.
In the regional, the top two teams from each field will qualify for the national championship, as well as the top four individual runners who do not qualify with a team.
It will not be an easy race, and will likely prove to be the Rebel’s toughest competition of the season. The men’s race includes two other nationally ranked teams, Alabama and Georgia. As of Nov. 3, the Rebel men rank No. 26 in the nation and No. 5 in the region.
The women’s field is also one of the deepest the country has seen in a while. It includes three nationally ranked teams: Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. As of Nov. 3, the Ole Miss women are currently No. 7 in the region, but unranked nationally.
Full results from the SEC championship can be found here and complete team rankings can be found here.
