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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men's and women's cross country teams will continue postseason competition on Friday as the two squads compete at the NCAA South Regional hosted by Alabama at the Harry Pritchett Running Park.

The women's 6k is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. (CT) and will then be followed by the men's 10k at 10 a.m. (CT).  Live stats and video can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.

The top two teams from each region will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, while there will also be 13 at-large bids from around the nation.  In addition to the teams advancing, the top four finishers from each regional not on one of the advancing teams will also earn a berth at the championship meet as long as they finish with in the top 25 of the region.  Two additional athletes will be selected from the remainder of the national pool (and must have finished in the regional top 25) as at-large individuals.

MEET INFORMATION
Date: 11/10
Meet (Host Institution): NCAA South Regional (Alabama)
Place: Harry Pritchett Running Park (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

MEDIA INFORMATION
Live Stats: https://results.flotrack.org/XC-PTT.html?mid=1301
Video: None

THE FIELD
WOMEN – 6K –32 TEAMS
Alabama, Alabama State, Auburn, Belmont, Central Florida, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, Mercer, Miami, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, Mississippi Valley State, North Florida, Ole Miss, Samford, South Alabama, South Florida, Southern Mississippi, Tennessee, Tennessee-Martin, UAB, Vanderbilt

Programs with Individuals: Austin Peay (3), Florida Gulf Coast (1), Jackson State (3), Kennesaw State (3), Memphis (2), Stetson (4), Tennessee Tech (4), Troy (1)

MEN – 10K – 25 TEAMS
Alabama, Auburn, Austin Peay, Belmont, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Jackson State, Lipscomb, Miami, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, North Florida, Ole Miss, Samford, South Alabama, South Florida, Tennessee, Tennessee-Martin, Troy, Vanderbilt

Programs with Individuals: Alabama State (1), Florida A&M (1), Florida Gulf Coast (3), Jacksonville (1), Kennesaw State (3), Memphis (1), Stetson (4), Tennessee Tech (2)

AT THE LINE FOR THE JAGUARS
WOMEN – 6K
-Kailee Kiminski (Jr., Esko, Minn.)
-Laura Labuschaigne (Jr., Durbanville, Western Cape, South Africa)
-Carolien Millenaar (Fr., Sogard, Denmark)
-Susanna Pudner (Fr., Auburn, Ala.)
-Gillianne Sharp (So., Huntsville, Ala.)
-Nicole Van Der Merwe (Fr., Alberton, Gauteng, South Africa)

MEN – 10K
-Luke Fielding (So., Tauranga, New Zeland)
-Phillip Friedlander (Sr., Mobile, Ala.)
-Dylan Pausic (So., Dylan Pausic)
-Warno Potgeiter (Fr., Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa)
-Ben Rolader (Jr., Auburn, Ala.)
-John Paul Rumore (Fr., Hoover)
-Migael Strydom (Fr., Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa)

NOTES
– The women's 6k field will have 32 teams and a total of 288 runners, while the men's 10k will feature a field of 25 teams and 231 runners.
– There are 17 regionally and two nationally ranked teams – Georgia (14) and Ole Miss (22) – in the women's field, and 14 regionally and three nationally ranked teams – Middle Tennessee (21), Alabama (28) and Ole Miss (29) – in the men's field.
– The Top 25 finishers on both the men's and women's side will earn all-region honors.
– Both the Jaguar women's and men's cross country teams competed at the NCAA Regional course earlier this season at the Crimson Classic held on Oct. 13.  The South men placed 15th out of the 26-team field, while the women were 18th in a field of 30 teams.
– Last season, the South Alabama women just missed out on a top-15 finish at the NCAA South Regional, placing 16th, 57 points behind North Florida.
– Laura Labuschaigne barely missed out on all-region honors a year ago, finishing 29th with a personal-best 6k time of 21:01.1.
– Labuschaigne holds three individual titles this fall, including winning the 2017 Sun Belt Conference individual championship in her last outing.  The individual title marked just the third time in program history of a Jaguar women's cross country runner and the first since 1997.
– She has finished inside the top 30 in eight of her last nine meets.  
– Freshmen runners Carolien Millenar and Nicole Van Der Merwe also earned third-team all-Sun Belt honors with their top-15 finishes helping USA place third for the second straight year.
– Millenaar and Van Der Merwe both recorded their fastest 6k times at the Crimson Classic earlier this fall.
– The Jaguar men also had a pair of runners – Warno Potgieter and Migel Strydom – pick up third-team all-league honors two weeks ago at the SBC Championship event while helping lead the men's team to a fourth-place finish as all five scorers placed 33rd or better.
– In their first season with the cross country program, Potgieter and Strydom have been the top two runners for the South men at each event this season with Potgieter finishing 32nd or better in each of his races this season, while Strydom has three top 15 results.
– At the Crimson Classic, Potgieter placed 32nd in the 8k with a time of 25:26.
– Luke Fielding John Paul Rumore are coming off 8k personal-best times at the SBC meet.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Parker Cowles
- On carrying over the momentum from the conference meet: "Conference was the strongest race this season for the team.  It can be difficult to carry that fitness over for another two weeks.  We actually trained fairly hard last week with some fast intervals on Tuesday and a long sustained tempo run last Friday.  Since then we have tapered down a bit.  I am confident the team will be rested, but not dull and should be able to build on our conference performance."
- On the team's progression throughout the fall: "I have really enjoyed my first season with this young group. Both teams have developed their fitness and racing acumen.  With freshmen, the goal is long term development, but we have made some big strides in just the last two months."
- On what the two teams need to do in order to be successful this weekend: "The men need to negotiate the field better than we did at the Crimson Classic.  The last time we raced at Bama, they did a lot of things right, but they grouped up at 150th place in the first mile.  From there they moved up well, but that was too far back to start out.  The 10k is a very long way to race, so I have continued to stress being patient, but I have also reminded them we can't pack up at the back and expect to compete well.

"The last time the ladies ran this course, I don't think we were as assertive as we could have been late in the race.  The more familiar you are with a course the more comfortable you are being aggressive.  I want to see this team really test themselves before the last mile begins."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Finish Line Club, the track and field and cross country specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  All donations to the Finish Line Club go directly to support the South Alabama track and field/cross country programs.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/finishlineclub.

—USA—