UNCG cross country jumps into Southeast Region rankings
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Coming off a second-place finish at the Royal Cross Country Challenge this past weekend, the UNCG men's cross country team earned a spot in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I Regional Cross Country Rankings, the organization announced on Monday.
The Spartans checked in at No. 13 in the Southeast Region, joining fellow SoCon member Appalachian State, who is ranked 10th in the region.
"It's great to see our men's program break into the regional rankings this week," said coach Linh Nguyen. "The guys have worked extremely hard this year and have been very focused on taking this program to the next level. This ranking is a nice recognition of what we have accomplished so far in the season."
"The Southeast Region is incredibly deep, so it's an honor to be listed among the top 15 teams at this point in the season. Of course, the most important meets are still ahead of us and our main goals are to perform well at the SoCon meet and the NCAA Regional meet."
UNCG has enjoyed great success this season as the team won the Elon Invitational and finished runner-up at the Guilford College XC Carnival and the Royal Cross Country Challenge.
The team has also had tremendous individual efforts as the school record in the 8k has been broken three times this season. Mike Koech started things off at the Elon Invitational where he broke the school record set last season by teammate Joey Thompson by three seconds.
Koech decided to best his own time two weeks later at the Greater Louisville Classic, where he ran a 24:29.47 to set a new school record by 25 seconds. Thompson reclaimed his school record this past weekend at the Royal Cross Country Challenge, breaking Koech's time by nine seconds after running a 24:20.5.
The Spartans will return to competition on Oct. 30 at the Southern Conference Championships in Boone, N.C.
AGATE
USTFCCCA Division I Southeast Region rankings:
Rank
School
Location
Conference
Last Week
1
Duke
Durham,
N.C.
ACC
1
2
NC
State
Raleigh,
N.C.
ACC
2
3
Virginia
Charlottesville,
Va.
ACC
3
4
William and
Mary
Williamsburg,
Va.
Colonial
5
5
North
Carolina
Chapel Hill,
N.C.
ACC
4
6
Louisville
Louisville,
Ky.
BIG
EAST
6
7
Liberty
Lynchburg,
Va.
Big
South
9
8
Richmond
Richmond,
Va.
Atlantic
10
8
9
Wake
Forest
Winston-Salem, N.C.
ACC
10
10
Appalachian
State
Boone,
N.C.
SoCon
15
11
High
Point
High Point,
N.C.
Big
South
13
12
Virginia
Tech
Blacksburg,
Va.
ACC
12
13
UNCG
Greensboro,
N.C.
SoCon
NR
14
Kentucky
Lexington,
Ky.
SEC
NR
15
Norfolk
State
Norfolk,
Va.
Mid-Eastern
11
- UNCG -