ASU XC hits road for NCAA Regionals
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (bamastatesports.com) – Fresh off their sixth consecutive SWAC Championship, the Alabama State women’s cross country team will continue their postseason quest in the NCAA South Regional Championships on Nov. 11 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, hosted by Florida State University.
Leading the pack for ASU is senior Tatiana Etienne, who placed first at SWAC with the time of 18:32 in the 5k and also was awarded the Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year award.
The Lady Hornets will look for a little extra endurance where they will be running a 6k, adding an extra kilometer to the course.
“The extra kilometer is the same factor that it’s going to be for everybody else,” said ASU cross country head coach Ritchie Beene.
“Everybody has to run it. It’s going to come down to whom the most prepared is. What I expect is that we will compete. At the end of the day, we know what our positives and negatives are. As long as they give it everything they have, it’s all I can ask for is from them.”
Etienne, Brandee Ebert, Shakailia Williams are all seniors and have run the conference championship table in all four years by going undefeated in winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship every year at ASU.
“Any time that you got three people that are seniors and have been on championship teams, it gives you a little sense of comfort of knowing that they know what it’s like to be a champion,” Beene added.
“For the newer athletes, they have somebody who can guide them to the right place.”
The South Regional covers Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi.
There is a 36-team field which will feature the following schools: UA, Alabama State, Auburn, Belmont, Chattanooga, East Tenn. State, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, FIU, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Memphis, Mercer, Miami, Mid. Tenn. State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Florida, Samford, South Alabama, South Florida, Southern Miss, Tennessee, Tennessee-Martin , Tennessee Tech, UAB, UCF and Vanderbilt will close out the field of runners.
