BOONE, N.C. - The App State men's and women's cross country teams are set to travel to Charlottesville, Va. for the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday. The women's 6K is scheduled for 10 a.m. with the men's 10K to follow at 11 a.m. Fifty-one teams from the region will join the Mountaineers in Friday's competition.
Last Time Out
App State became the second program in Sun Belt history to sweep the men's and women's team titles in back-to-back seasons on Oct. 31. The App State men captured their third consecutive title, scoring 32 points, while the women secured their second consecutive title with 77 points.
All eight competitors in the men's race collected All-SBC honors after finishing among the top 20. Sophomore
Henry Stark led the charge, clocking an 8K personal best of 24:07.41 to place fourth overall and earn the Sun Belt's Elite Award. Freshmen
Noah Martinson and
Tate Shore placed fifth and sixth, respectively, with personal bests of 24:09.71 and 24:12.82. Sophomore
Thomas Wlazlowski (24:16.78) and senior
Ethan Lipham (24:20.7) rounded out the top 10 for the Mountaineers. Sophomores
Memphis Rich and
Aaron Kidd clocked times of 24:38.60 and 24:53.99 to place 12th and 17th, respectively, and were followed by redshirt senior
Chase Burrell, who stopped the clock at 24:54.54 to place 18th overall.
Freshman
Tessa Massa set pace for the App State women in the 5K, finishing 11th with a personal best of 17:39.90. Fellow freshman
Josie Jackson placed 14th with a personal best of her own, stopping the clock at 17:47.50. Sophomores
Savannah Moore (17:51.00) and
Breanna Budzinski (17:51.50), and freshman
Elizabeth McCart (17:54.30), rounded out the top 20. Massa, Jackson, Moore, Budzinski, and McCart collected all-conference accolades for their performances on the course.
Aside from the Mountaineers' all-conference honors, App State also recorded the program's second consecutive sweep of the league's Men's and Women's Coach of the Year and Men's and Women's Freshman of the Year honors. Men's distance coach
Brad Herbster collected his third Sun Belt Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year in as many years. Women's distance coach
Annie Richards earned her second consecutive SBC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year honor to complete the sweep. Martinson and Massa were named the league's Freshmen of the Year for their efforts in the men's and women's races, respectively.
Last Time at the NCAA Southeast Regional
At the 2024 NCAA Southeast Regional, the Mountaineer men placed 14th out of 33 teams, while the App State women took 16th out of 34 teams.
Calbert Guest led the charge in the men's race, clocking a 10K time of 31:17.1 to place 44th out of 235 competitors. Lipham (31:42.5), Wlazlowski (32:10.6), and
Ethan Turner (32:21.9), joined Guest in the top 100 individual finishers. In the women's 6K,
Lauren Johnston was the first Mountaineer to cross the finish line, stopping the clock at 21:50.7 to place 53rd overall. Finishing in the top 100 with Johnston was
Jasmine Donohue (22:22.7),
Emma Russum (22:27.5), and
Lana Farris (22:35.4).
The Road to the NCAA Championships
The NCAA Championships will be held on Nov. 22 in Columbia, Mo. The women's 6K is slated for 10:20 a.m. ET (9:20 a.m. CT), with the men's 10K to follow at 11:10 a.m. ET (10:10 a.m. CT). The race will be available to watch on ESPNU.
The championship field will feature 32 teams and 38 individuals. The top two teams at each of the nine regional meets will automatically advance to total 18 automatic qualifying teams. Fourteen at-large qualifying teams are selected based on a point system reflective of how they beat common opponents throughout the season. A total of 36 individuals (the top four finishing individuals per region) who are not already on a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championship. Two individuals will be selected at-large to round out the 38 individual qualifiers. More information about how to qualify for the NCAA Championships can be found on
ncaa.com.
App State was last represented at the NCAA Cross Country Championships by App State Athletics Hall of Famer Mary Jayne (MJ) Harrelson in 2000. While at App State, Harrelson qualified for three consecutive NCAA Championships (1998, 1999, and 2000). The women's squad also saw fellow App State Athletics Hall of Famer Whitney Ball qualify for the championship meet in 1989. The men's squad last appeared at the NCAA Championships in 1994 with a team qualification. Jon Crumbliss, Jamie Griggs, Tom Holland, Brian Miesch, Seth Peoples, Judson Sarver, and Alan Whicker competed for the Black and Gold under the direction of 2010 App State Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, coach Al Fereshetian.
