Auburn cross nation gears up for Southern Showcase – Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn cross nation staff will compete on the Southern Showcase, hosted by Jacksonville State on the John Hunt Cross Country Park in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday morning, September twelfth. The males’s 8k begins at 7:30 a.m. CT, adopted by the ladies’s 5k at 8:30 a.m. CT.  

“We’re excited to get the regular season off to a start,” Auburn cross nation coach Aaron Kindt mentioned. “This is as good as an early season meet you’re going to find competitively. Both teams will go in with what we expect to be our top 10. We’re going to be running a full roster this weekend.” 

There’s quite a lot of familiarity with this course for the Tigers. Last season, the ladies opened their season at this meet, ending thirteenth general. Two seasons in the past, the women and men delivered second place finishes.  

Friday’s course in Huntsville can be the location of November’s NCAA South Regionals. 

The males will line up towards SEC rivals Alabama and Kentucky in addition to South Alabama, Georgia Tech and Florida State.  

The ladies will face off towards Alabama, Kentucky, Miami and Mississippi State.

Coming off their final meet, the JSU Foothills Invitational in Oxford, Alabama, the ladies completed first general with 35 factors, and the boys had been second, totaling 56 factors. 

Junior Cady McPhail led the ladies’s staff to victory together with her third-place end. McPhail delivered the most effective 5k of her collegiate profession, crossing the end line in 17:35.20.  Junior Mary Mac Collins completed simply behind McPhail in fourth, operating 17:41.36.  

On the boys’s facet, the squad completed second general, with sophomore Nickson Chebii’s first-place end highlighting the person runs. Competing in his first collegiate 5k, Chebii completed in 14:44.11, forward of 174 opponents. Chebii was intently adopted by Auburn, Alabama native, Max Hardin, who took silver with a profession finest 5k (14:48.72).  

“We’re excited to get out there,” Kindt mentioned. “This will be the first meet where we let them off the leash and we see what happens. That’s where you hope that all the things you’ve talked about in practice click.” 

Running in her first cross nation meet of the season, senior Gené Coetzee brings veteran management to the ladies’s squad.   

“We’re really excited about the way Gené has looked in practice,” Kindt mentioned. “We’re going to be leaning heavily on her to be our front runner this year. She’s ready for that responsibility. She had a great track season last year, and she’s really opened up for us this fall and during practice. She’s looked sharp.” 

Chebii is predicted to set the tempo for the boys, whereas switch Joshua Kosgei from the University of South Carolina steps into the highlight.  

“We’re really excited to have Joshua on board and the talent that he can provide us with,” Kindt mentioned. “He’s a very talented individual that we’re excited about long term.” 

Live outcomes might be discovered at xpresstiming.com.