Choctaw cross country teams clinch Division II National Championship berths
By Datti Jinkiri
Mississippi College’s cross country teams continued their historic seasons as both the men and women finished in third place in the NCAA Division II South Region Championships. Due to these high finishes, both teams earned automatic berths to the NCAA Division II National Championships.
The men finished just behind fellow Gulf South Conference schools Lee and Alabama Huntsville. They were paced by junior Hunter Kurz, who finished in ninth place with a time of 32:22.78. Freshman Christian Balcer followed him with a time of 32:32.45 in 13th place. Junior Gabe Poulin finished in 21st with a time of 32:42.05, and Brock Kelly finished just a couple of seconds behind him (32:50.61) in 24th place. These four runners each earned NCAA All-South Region honors.
The women were bested only by Lee and host Saint Leo. Sophomore Jazmin Hernandez paced the team and tallied a sixth-place finish with a time of 22:27.17. Freshman Josie Whipp continued her stellar debut campaign with a 14th-place finish (22:52.02), while senior Madeline Campbell finished in 18th place with a time of 23:08.06. Freshman Emily Berry finished in 23rd with a time of 23:22.40. Each of these four runners also earned NCAA All-South Region honors.
Both the men’s and women’s NCAA Division II National Championship races will be held in Saint Leo, Florida on November 20th. The Choctaws and Lady Choctaws will find out their opponents later today when the full national championship field is announced.
