SEC cross country teams set for NCAA Championships

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Nov. 16, 2023) ----- Eight Southeastern Conference cross country teams will compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships Saturday at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Va.

The women's race is slated for a 9:20 a.m. CT start, while the men's race will begin at 10:10 a.m.

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M will compete in the women's and race, while Arkansas and Tennessee will compete in the men's race. A total of 31 teams will compete in the championship races for each gender.

Eight SEC runners qualified individually to the NCAA Championships: Hillary Cheruiyot (Alabama), Victor Kiprop (Alabama), Cruz Gomez (Ole Miss) and Eric Casarez (Texas A&M) in the men's championship, and Ella Chesnut (LSU) and Judy Kosgei (South Carolina) in the women's championship.

The SEC has won eight NCAA Men's Cross Country Championships with Arkansas claiming seven and Tennessee winning one. The last SEC NCAA Championship came in 2000, with Arkansas winning its third consecutive crown.

The SEC has won two NCAA Women's Cross Country Championships with Kentucky winning in 1988 and Arkansas in 2019.

Alabama's Mercy Chelangat in the 2020-21 season became the second SEC runner to win the women's title after Missouri's Karissa Schweizer won the SEC's first women's NCAA cross country title in 2016.

The SEC boasts two NCAA Cross Country men's individual titles as Godfrey Siamusiye of Arkansas won back-to-back national crowns in 1995 and 1996.

Both races Saturday will be televised live on ESPNU.