By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
NCAA South Regional Championships
Date: Friday, Nov. 11, 2022
Time: 8:30 a.m. CT (women – 6K) & 9:30 a.m. CT (men – 10K)
Location: John Hunt Park | Huntsville, Ala.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech cross country teams head south for NCAA South Regional Championships Friday morning at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala.
The event is set to kick off with the women's 6K at 8:30 a.m. CT while the men's 10K is scheduled to follow at approximately 9:30 a.m.
Tech enters the South Regional Championships after successful runs at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships two weeks ago.
The Tech women's team placed on the podium for the second straight year, the first time the purple and gold earned top-three finishes in back-to-back seasons in program history. The Golden Eagles earned 71 points to place third among the 10 OVC teams. Eastern Illinois captured the OVC title with 41 points, besting newcomer Southern Indiana by a single point.
Pacing the effort for the women was sophomore Ruby Wyles, clocking in with a career-best time of 22:22.1 in the 6K. She finished sixth among the 84 competitors, earning All-OVC First Team honors for the first time. Wyles was a member of the Second Team in 2021.
Junior Helen Pacurariu-Nagy delivered a nice performance as well, collecting her own postseason hardware with a place on the All-OVC Second Team. A member of the First Team in 2021, she finished 11th on the day with a time of 22:42.4.
The Golden Eagle men's squad placed fourth among the 10 league teams, marking the first time the team placed third and fourth or better in back-to-back years since 1966 and 1967. The purple and gold accounted for 101 points. Eastern Illinois picked up the OVC crown with 65 points, edging UT Martin by two points. Southern Indiana was third with 82 points.
Sophomore Miceal McCaul led the Golden Eagles on the day, placing fifth overall with a time of 25:18.9, the best finish by a Tech runner since Gilbert Boit won the OVC Championship in 2016. Aside from Boit's title, it was the best showing by a Golden Eagle since 1970, a fifth-place finish by Jim Pearson. He earned All-OVC First Team accolades for the performance, his second year in a row with honors after collecting a Second Team nod in 2021.
Also picking up All-OVC recognition for the second straight year was Dominic Smith, placing 13th overall for another Second Team honor. The junior clocked in at 25:47.6, becoming the first Golden Eagle in program history to earn two All-OVC Second Team accolades.
The Fields
The NCAA South Regional Championships women's field consists of Alabama, Alabama State, Alcorn State, Auburn, Belmont, Chattanooga, ETSU, Florida, Florida Atlantic, FGCU, FIU, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Jackson State, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Memphis, Mercer, Miami (Fla.), Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, North Alabama, North Florida, Ole Miss, Samford, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Stetson, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, UAB, UCF, USF, UT Martin, and Vanderbilt.
The NCAA South Regional Championships men's field consists of Alabama, Alabama State, Auburn, Austin Peay, Belmont, Chattanooga, ETSU, Florida, Florida Atlantic, FGCU, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Jackson State, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Memphis, Mercer, Miami (Fla.), Middle Tennessee, North Alabama, North Florida, Ole Miss, Samford, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Stetson, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Troy, USF, UT Martin, and Vanderbilt.
Photos by Emily Armstrong
