Birmingham, AL-Gulf South Conference power Harding University's men's and women's cross country squads advanced to the NCAA Championships, thanks impressive performances at the 2009 NCAA South Regionals at Sydney Dover Trails in Dove, FL.
Eight GSC schools were apart of the 15-team men's regional meet. HU placed three runners in the top four spots, earning its ninth overall regional Title, second in a row, thanks to 48 points. Florida Southern finished second (89) and will join the Bisons at the NCAA Championships.
West Georgia was the next-highest GSC squad ranking fourth (110), followed by fifth-place West Florida (154) and sixth-place Alabama-Huntsville (162). Valdosta State came in at No. 9 (258), while Christian Brothers (267), West Alabama (274) and Southern Arkansas (331) placed 11th through 13th, respectively.
The top fifteen runners were tabbed All-Region, led by two-time GSC Individual Champion, Harding's Daniel Kirwa, who finished first in the regional meet for the second year in a row (31:10). Teammate Philip Biwott was second (31:46) followed by Wojciech Kopec's fourth-place effort (32:34). HSU's Gabriel Ghioca earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships, via a fifth-place time of 32:42. Rounding out the Conference's All-Region runners was UAH duo Steven Dolan (9th; 33:08) and Josh Moshier (10th; 33:10), Harding's Manase Busienei (11th; 33:13) and UWG's Dan Moffitt (12th; 33:13) and Jake Hudson (15th; 33:15).
Next up is the 2009 NCAA Championships which will be held on November 21st at the University of Southern, Indiana.
| Downloadable Files |
| Team Results (PDF) |
| Individual Results (PDF) |
