TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (November 14, 2024) – The University of North Alabama cross country programs head to Tallahassee, Fla. on Friday, Nov. 15 to compete in the 2024 South Regionals at Apalachee Regional Park.
The women get started first with their 6K at 7:30 a.m., while the men follow behind with their 10K at 8:30 a.m. This is the first 10k for the men this season.
The Lions are coming off of their ASUN Championship in Jacksonville, Fla. race where the men finished fifth overall and the women finished seventh. Both of these are improvements from their ninth position the year prior.
"It's a true cross country course and a nice one," said UNA head coach Connor Callahan. "It will be a tough race with great competition…30 teams for the men's race and 34 teams for the women's race. It looks like there might be some rain in the area but will hopefully clear out by Friday with good temperatures. Having been in Florida for Conference, we had a chance to see what we will run in this weekend. I believe we have an opportunity to show continued improvements from last year's results."
A number of tough teams comprise the field for both programs. However, the Lions are familiar with most of them.
For the men, the Power Four schools are Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. There is also some ASUN competition is in the mix with FGCU, Lipscomb, North Florida and Stetson. The rest of the field includes Belmont, Chattanooga, FIU, FAU, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Mercer, MTSU, Samford, South Alabama and UT Martin.
The men competed against all of the listed teams except for Florida Atlantic, Mercer, Miami and the host school, Florida State. For the men's division, Alabama is ranked 10th nationally.
For the women, they see a few more teams. The power schools include Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, UCF and Vanderbilt. ASUN opponents include FGCU, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, North Florida and Stetson.
Others tagging along are Belmont, Chattanooga, FIU, FAU, FSU, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Mercer, MTSU, Samford, and South Alabama. The women add East Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Tennessee Tech and UAB to their field outside of who the men see.
The women see a much more brutal field. The Lions find five nationally ranked teams for the weekend with Alabama at No. 7, Tennessee at 16th, Florida at 18th, FSU at 24th and 27th-ranked Lipscomb.
UNA's last competition in Tallahassee came at the FSU Invitational on Oct. 11, 2019. The men finished fifth in the race out of 20 competing teams, while the women finished seventh out of 24 teams.
North Alabama celebrated its first-ever individual ASUN champion in
Brian Bett at the ASUN Championship on Nov. 1. Bett ran a 23:29.6 time that landed him the individual crown and bested Taha Er Raouy of EKU by nearly six seconds. Raouy was last year's ASUN champion.
Last season, the men finished 22nd and the women finished 27th amongst the finishing teams. The highest finishing men's runner was former runner
Fedrick Kipyego with a 31:31.1 time. Now-senior Janeth Jekirui led the way for the women at 21:30.2.
While this is the first 10K for the men this season, the women ran two 6K events earlier this season at the Gans Creek and Crimson Classics. Seniors
Aaliyah Charo and
Laura Mobley and sophomore
Camille Etheridge set personal records at the Gans Creek Classic.
The Lions will compete to qualify for the 2024 NCAA Championships, which are set for Nov. 23 in Madison, Wis.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
