Men’s Cross Country Readies for NCAA South Region Championships

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida men's cross country team returns to action after a week off as it heads to Hoover, Ala. for the NCAA South Region Championships being held at Veterans Park on Saturday, Nov. 13. The men's 10,000 meter race is slated for an 11:45 a.m. (ET) start.

For the first time this season, the Ospreys will be competing at a distance over 8,000 meters. The top 25 individuals will earn All-South Region honors. The top two teams will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships and the next four individual finishers not on those teams will advance as well. A team must finish in the top four to have a chance at a wild card berth to the championship meet.

This will be the second year North Florida has competed at the NCAA regional meet since transitioning to Division 1, and has never had a qualifier for the NCAA Championships. Last year, North Florida notched a 21st-place team finish as then junior Will Pearce paced the squad with his 65th-place finish and time of 32:44.00.

The Ospreys have had four different runners lead the squad on the course this season with junior Mike Strasser being the most recent to hold the top spot on the team. Strasser led North Florida to a fourth-place team finish at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, finishing ninth with a time of 25:15.03.

North Florida made its first appearance in this season's polls after a good showing at the conference championships. The men are currently ranked 15th in the region, according to the USTFCCCA Week Eight Coach's Poll – tying its highest ranking in program history.

North Florida will be competing against some of the nation's top teams this weekend, including two conference champions: No. 6 Florida State (ACC) and Kennesaw State (A-Sun). In addition, the field will feature No. 25 Alabama, which recently finished second at the SEC Championships, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Joining the Ospreys from the Atlantic Sun Conference are Belmont, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb and Mercer.

The meet is being timed by C.F.P.I. Timing. Results will be posted on www.cfpitiming.com as soon as they are available.

North Florida Men's Competition Roster

Josh Brown (Jr.)

Cameron Dickerson (Jr.)

Kosta Fotopoulos (Fr.)

Chris Haynes (Fr.)

Will Pearce (Sr.)

James Post (Soph.)

Daniel Schmidt (Fr.)

Mike Strasser (Jr.)

USTFCCCA Week Eight South Region Poll
Rank	School	Location	Conference	Last Week
1	Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	ACC	1
2	Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Ala.	SEC	2
3	Florida	Gainesville, Fla.	SEC	3
4	Tennessee	Knoxville, Tenn.	SEC	5
5	Kennesaw State	Kennesaw, Ga.	Atlantic Sun	7
6	Mississippi	Oxford, Miss.	SEC	8
7	Georgia	Athens, Ga.	SEC	4
8	Chattanooga	Chattanooga, Tenn.	SoCon	9
9	Georgia Tech	Atlanta, Ga.	ACC	10
10	Middle Tennessee	Murfreesboro, Tenn.	Sun Belt	11
11	Mississippi State	Starkville, Miss.	SEC	12
12	Auburn	Auburn, Ala.	SEC	6
13	Belmont	Nashville, Tenn.	Atlantic Sun	13
14	South Alabama	Mobile, Ala.	Sun Belt	14
15	North Florida	Jacksonville, Fla.	Atlantic Sun	NR

Men’s Cross Country Readies for NCAA South Region Championships

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Men’s Cross Country Readies for NCAA South Region Championships

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