North Georgia Prepares To Host 2023 NCAA D2 Cross Country Southeast Regional
GAINESVILLE, Ga. - The University of North Georgia will host the 2023 NCAA Division II Men's & Women's Cross Country Southeast Regional on Saturday, Nov. 4 at its Gainesville Campus. It will mark the second NCAA cross country regional hosted by UNG, which welcomed the event in 2018.
Over 50 teams from 29 schools will convene in Gainesville for the event with the women's 6k championship schedule for 10:00 a.m. and the men's 10k race slated for 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4.
The southeast region is made up of schools from the Peach Belt Conference, South Atlantic Conference and Conference Carolinas with the top three finishing teams earning automatic advancement to the 2023 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship Nov. 18 at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Mo.
"Bringing conference and NCAA championships to our campuses allows for us to not only showcase everything the University of North Georgia and our local communities offer, but it also affords for our programs the chance to have a competitive home facility advantage," Lee Glenn, senior associate athletic director for external operations, said. "Our cross country course has become a very popular site for large events because of the combination of a fast course that is spectator friendly in layout."
The UNG Cross Country Course is all grass and dirt and is considered "flat and fast." It features a stadium style-finish line and includes the G.W. Bailey Amphitheater for event operations.
"Our home course at UNG's Gainesville Campus has been transformed into a championship cross country course," UNG cross country and track and field head coach Christopher England said. "The UNG Athletics Department does a fantastic job dressing the course up and making each event a great experience for both the competitors and the fans."
Additionally, it is the fourth NCAA event UNG has hosted in Hall County, including the 2022 Division II women's golf championship and the 2023 Division II women's golf South Regional. Both golf events were at Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville. UNG is scheduled to host the men's golf South/Southeast Regional in May of 2024.
The UNG women's cross country team earned second place at the Oct. 21 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) championship, which it also hosted. It was UNG's fourth top-three finish in five events this fall. Claire Mills finished second individually at the PBC championship, while Emily McBride took 10th place.
Mills won PBC Runner of the Year honors, and Ella Stoudenmire earned the Elite 18 award, which is given to the student-athlete competing in each PBC championship who has the highest overall cumulative GPA. Nealeigh Broadwell earned PBC Cross Country Freshman of the Year honors by finishing as the top freshman in the PBC championship (20th place) with a time of 18:59.
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