Nov. 7, 2012

South Regional Meet Central: http://www.seminoles.com/genrel/xc2012ncaa.html

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men’s and women’s cross country teams are set to continue their season at the NCAA South Regional on Friday morning.

The NCAA South Regional will be hosted by Florida State University and take place at Aplalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. The women’s 6K race will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the men’s 10K race at 9:15 a.m.

The top two teams from each regional will automatically advance to the national meet, which will be held on Nov. 17 in Louisville, Ky.

“We are excited to be heading to the NCAA South Regional this weekend,” said first-year head coach Brian O’Neal. “We are as fit as we have been all season long. I’m looking for our teams to go there and compete at a high level.”

The Rebel women have had one of their most successful seasons in school history. They captured their highest finish ever at the SEC Championships (fourth), including the best individual finish from Katie Breathitt (ninth).

Breathitt has been a dominant force in every meet she has participated in this season. The All-SEC second teamer captured the Commodore Classic title on Sept. 15, which led her to being named SEC Women’s Runner of the Week. The Lexington, Ky., native placed 15th overall at last year’s meet.

The Rebels have also relied strong performances from fellow seniors Anne Threlkeld, Amy McCrory and Kelsey Breathitt, Katie’s twin sister. Threlkeld raced to a 41st place finish in last year’s regional. Kelsey Breathitt finished 73rd place, while McCrory followed in 75th.

Junior Kayleigh Skinner also competed in last year’s regional, placing 59th overall. Sophomores Haley Cutright and McKenna Coughlin will also participate in this year’s meet.

Last season, the women raced to their best regional showing in school history with a fourth-place effort in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The women will head into this year’s meet ranked No. 4 in the South Region by USTFCCCA.

The Ole Miss men, ranked No. 15 in the South Region in this week’s USTFCCCA poll, will be led by junior Max Holman. Holman was the first of the Rebels to reach the finish line at the SEC Championships in Nashville, helping his team to a 10th-place result. Holman finished 44th overall. Holman claimed 46th place at last year’s regional in Tuscaloosa.

The Rebels have looked for strong performances from senior Riley Young, sophomore Loren Newsom and freshman Seumas O’Reilly this season. Young placed 55th at the SEC Championships with a time of 25:29.41. Newsom and O’Reilly both placed in the top 100. Junior Al Lowe and freshman Ian Carter will also compete in Friday’s meet for the Ole Miss men.

Last season, Martin Kirui placed 11th individually and the Rebel men tied for seventh in the South Region.

Both teams are looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history.