Led by an NCAA national qualifying performance from junior Tiffany McWilliams, the MSU women’s cross country team took sixth, while the men tenth at this year’s NCAA regionals in Auburn, Ala.
The Lady Bulldogs finished with 186 points, 115 points behind regional champion Tennessee.
McWilliams led the Lady Bulldogs with a second place overall finish in a season-best 6K time of 20:42.60, qualifying her for the NCAA Championships.
McWilliams will compete in the NCAA Championships on Nov. 24 at Byrnes Park/Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa.
“I’m very excited about advancing to nationals,” said McWilliams. “I have been running for three years now, and this is my first time to make nationals.”
Freshman Joy Griffith finished second for the Lady Bulldogs with a season best time of 21:32.33. Griffith was the region’s top freshman finisher, while completing the fastest regional finish by a freshman in MSU history.
“Our team ran pretty good,” said McWilliams. “The person that I was most surprised and pleased with was Joy–she ran very well for us.”
In the men’s 10K run, the Bulldogs finished with a total of 298 points. The University of Georgia took home the crown with 37 points.
Senior Chris Boldt led the Bulldogs with a 43rd-place finish with an overall time of 31:43.31 in his final race in Maroon and White.
“Finishing first for the team wasn’t a particular goal for me in this meet,” said Boldt. “I just wanted to come out and help the team because I was really the only one with SEC experience. I really wanted to help the younger guys and get things started for the future.”
Only a few paces behind Boldt, junior Gedamu Ege took second for MSU placing 44th in 31:43.55.
“I thought that we came together very well,” said Boldt. “This was the meet that we had been working for all year, and hopefully the young guys can use this experience as something to shoot for next year.”