GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina to compete in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship meet on Saturday morning.
The women's 6,000-meter race will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by the men's 10,000-meter event at 9:45 a.m. at the Milliken Research Park. The top three teams will automatically advance to the NCAA Division II Championships in Tampa, Florida on Nov. 20, as will the top two runners who are not part of a qualifying team.
In their last Southeast Region championship meet in 2019, the Pioneer men finished 12th overall and the Tusculum women took 11th place. Tusculum ran on the Milliken course on Sept. 18 as part of the Converse Kick-Off Meet, with the Pioneer women ending in 11th place and the men in 14th.
MEN'S PREVIEW
The Tusculum men finished seventh out of 13 teams at the South Atlantic Conference Championship, but head coach Cory Pratt believes that his squad has the capability to put together a strong finish in the regional.
"One goal this men's team had was to end the season as a top 10 team in the Southeast Region. At times I think we've looked the part, but it boils down to putting it together on the day that matters," said Pratt. "This would be an big step forward for this young group of men to continue building on in the future and give us some momentum to carry into indoor track season."
As they have all season, the Pioneers were led at the SAC Championship by senior Alex Perez who was 23rd overall in 25:18.7 over eight kilometers. Perez, a native of Aviles, Spain, also paced the Pioneers at the Converse Kick-Off by finishing 20th in 26:27.4.
Sophomore Ray Richardson (Johnson City, Tenn.) has emerged in the second half of the season for the Pioneers, and put together a 39th-place run at the SAC meet in 26:08.1. Junior Caleb Archer (Bluff City, Tenn.) was third among the Tusculum runners in the SAC with a 44th-place performance (26:34.8), after running second for the Pioneers at Converse in 28:14.9.
Four freshmen will close out the lineup for the Pioneers, as Pratt will turn to Bryson Livesay, Gideon Dowling, Graham Aitken and Irving Medina to continue their own strong finishes to the season.
Livesay (Jonesborough, Tenn.) was third among Tusculum runners at Converse in September with a run of 28:48.2, and took 48th overall at the SAC Championship in 26:40.1. Dowling (Jonesborough, Tenn.) has been a top-five performer for the Pioneers this fall, running 29:00.1 at Converse and placing a strong 54th at the SAC Championship in 26:51.9.
Aitken (Raleigh, N.C.) was 65th overall at the SAC Championship in 27:59.5 after running 29:20.0 at the Converse meet. Medina (Greeneville, Tenn.) did not run at Converse in September but was 63rd overall for the Pioneers at the SAC Championship with a time of 27:51.4.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
The Pioneers turned in an eighth-place result at the SAC Championship, but like the men Pratt believes that his women's squad is focused and capable of turning in a quality race on Saturday.
"This is a very special group of young women to me. All they do is show up and work," said Pratt. "After the regional preview meet (at Converse) when they opened, they have chipped away at the teams ahead of them and have narrowed distance between them. They didn't think they performed to their capabilities two weeks ago, so I've got a feeling they have one more big performance left in this season."
Sophomore Emily Coddington (Acosta, Pa.) led the Pioneers with a 28th-place finish at the SAC Championship with a time of 23:15.8. In September, Coddington covered the Milliken course in 24:10.5 and placed 43rd overall. Freshman Nicole Griffith (Jonesborough, Tenn.), who did not run at Converse, was the Pioneers' second finisher at the SAC meet and was 42nd in the final standings at 24:18.7.
Graduate student Javiera Ortiz (Llolleo, Chile) ran second to Coddington at the Converse Kick-Off with a time of 25:14.5, and finished 47th overall at the SAC Championship with a time of 24:54.1. Sophomore Judy Chellah (Johnson City, Tenn.) turned in a time of 25:54.3 at the SAC Championship after placing 74th overall at Converse in 25:27.8.
Junior Erin Bruce (Jonesborough, Tenn.) took 57th place at the SAC Championship in 25:43.1, and ran 25:56.0 at the Converse Kick-Off. Freshman Celine McNally (Surgoinsville, Tenn.) was Tusculum's fourth finisher at the SAC meet in 25:28.7, and turned in a time of 26:22.4 on the Milliken course.
