Emory Cross Country Teams Prepare For NCAA Regional Championships

The 2009 Emory University men's and women's cross country teams head into the homestretch of the season on Saturday (Nov. 14) when they take part in the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Championships.  This year's competitions will be held at the Meadows Cross Country Course in Greensboro, North Carolina. Serving as the host institution for the Championships is Guilford College.  The women's 6K race will begin at 11:00 a.m. while the men's 8K event is slated for a noon start. 

There are eight regional championships being conducted around the country with the top two men's and women's teams from each regional earning automatic bids to the NCAA National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Cleveland, Ohio.  In addition, there will be 16 at-large teams selected for both the men's and women's championships.

The Emory women's team has enjoyed considerable success over the years at the NCAA Regionals, logging first-place efforts in 16 of the past 18 seasons.  In 2008, the Eagles finished second out of 24 teams with Trinity capturing first-place honors. Two member of this year's team, senior Rebecca Flink and sophomore Tess Gallegos, look to repeat their strong performances of a year ago that saw them earn all-region honors after placing eighth and tenth, respectively, in the 169-runner field.  In their most recent outing, the Emory women's team came in fifth at the University Athletic Association Championships (Oct. 31).  Junior Natalie Fenn (Evanston, IL) was the top performer for the Eagles with an 11^th-place showing in the 81-runner that enabled her to garner second-team All-UAA acclaim.  Heading into this weekend's action, Emory is ranked 35^th nationally and second in the South/Southeast Region behind Rhodes College.

Last year's men's competition saw Emory record a second-place finish out of 19 teams.  The Eagles totaled 73 points and trailed only Centre College's effort of 56 points.  Charlie Meade (4^th), Tommy Fyffe (5^th) and Paul Winterhalter (8^th) sparked the team's effort by coming through with top-10 finishes in the 152-runner field.  When this year's Championships take place, Emory will be ranked 13^th nationally and No. 1 in the South/Southeast Region.   At the recently held UAA Championships, Emory tied for second place with Carnegie Mellon.  Meade paced the Eagles' pack with a third-place finish in the 80-runner field while Winterhalter registered a fourth-place showing.  Both Meade and Winterhalter claimed first-team all-UAA kudos while Fyffe's eight-place finish landed him second-team honors.