Men's Cross Country Wins NCAA South Region Title

Friday, November 10

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

10 AM

Middle Tennessee

NCAA Cross Country Regional

11/10/2017 11:34:00 AM | Track & Field/Cross Country

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 21 Middle Tennessee men's cross country team won its first NCAA South Regional title in program history today, Friday, Nov. 10. With the win, the Blue Raiders have punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships next Saturday, Nov. 18 in Louisville, Ky.

The Blue Raiders bested both SEC and ACC opponents in No. 29 Ole Miss, No. 28 Alabama, Florida State, and Tennessee to claim the top spot.

Jacob Choge crossed the line in third place to lead the Blue Raiders to their second straight NCAA Championship appearance. He ran a personal best time of 29:50.9 in the 10k.

Middle landed two other Blue Raiders in the top 10 as Kigen Chemadi claimed fifth in a personal best 30:14.0 and Sampson Laari ran to 10^th place finish in a personal best 30:57.6.

Amos Cheruiyot and Geoffry Cheruiyot finished in the top 30 for MT to help them earn the South Regional title by five points over No. 29 Ole Miss.

Choge, Chemadi, Laari and A. Cheruiyot all earned All-Region honors for their performances for the second straight year as well.

Rachel Kigen paced the Blue Raider women, coming in 79^th place. She finished in 21:40.4 in the 6k event, besting her previous mark by 30 seconds from the Crimson Classic. Gladys Kipchumba crossed the line in 22:26.5, a personal best, while Sharon Kibiwott finished not far behind in 22:44.1.

NOTABLE

This is the first South Region title for the Blue Raider cross country program
The team will return to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year
The Blue Raiders top three runners all finished in the top 10 with personal best times

QUOTABLE

"We are really pleased with how we performed today," said Associate Head Coach Keith Vroman. "It's not easy to win the region but we set our goals early this year and performed like we hoped during the regular season and we were able to carry that into the championship season."

"It's quite a feat to win the conference championship and the region and we are excited to return to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. We came out of the gates really well and around the 5k mark I told our guys to just relax and we had a great performance from each one of them out there today. I am proud of their poise and can't wait to see what this team does next weekend at the NCAA Championships."

FULL RESULTS

Men's Team Results (Top 5)
1. Middle Tennessee (71)
2. Ole Miss (76)
3. Alabama (95)
4. Florida State (128)
5. Tennessee (165)

Middle Tennessee Individual Men's Results (10k)
3. Jacob Choge (29:50.9)
5. Kigen Chemadi (30:14.0)
10. Sampson Laari (30:57.6)
23. Amos Cheruiyot (31:41.4)
30. Geoffry Cheruiyot (32:02.5)

Women's Team Results (Top 5)
1. Ole Miss (59)
2. Georgia (73)
3. Samford (94)
4. Florida State (129)
5. Georgia Tech (186)

Middle Tennessee Individual Women's Results (6k)
79. Rachel Kigen (21:40.4)
129. Gladys Kipchumba (22:26.5)
145. Sharon Kibiwott (22:44.5)