MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The University of Mount Olive men's and women's cross country teams head into the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 4, as a total of 32 teams and 24 individuals converge on Wingate University to compete at the Wingate XC Facility in Wingate, N.C. The 21st nationally ranked women will take the starting line at 9 a.m. with the 5th ranked men following at 10:15 a.m.
The women enter the weekend coming off their third consecutive Conference Carolinas championship title that they won on Oct. 20. UMO nearly had a perfect score with runners placing 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th, as well as 6th and 9th in the women's 6k race.
Two Mount Olive runners earned individual awards as Leah Hanle was named Runner of the Year after claiming a first-place finish, while Celine Ritter earned the Freshman of Year award as the highest finishing freshman coming in second behind teammate Hanle.
Mount Olive holds a slight advantage heading into the regional race as they ran the course back on Sept. 23 at the Bulldog Stampede. The Trojans finished fourth as a team at the Bulldog Stampede as seven racers finished within seven seconds of each other coming in anywhere from 23rd to 30th.
For links to the Tournament Race Page click here.