MOCS POST PERSONAL BESTS AT NCAA REGION; MEN FINISH 21^ST
 
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. --- Chattanooga's Jonathan Boyd, Ryan Phillips and Lesley Green all recorded personal bests Friday morning at the NCAA South Region Cross Country Championships at the John Hunt Cross Country Race Park.
 
"Lesley PR'd a tougher course than what she had run previously," Chattanooga head coach Andy Meyer said. "She's run some good races all year and been consistent, but today she ran a great race. She ran her best cross country race of her college career."
 
Green covered the 6-kilometer race in a time of 21:50.27, topping her previous best time by nearly 14 seconds. At the 1.6-kilometer mark of the course she was 111^th and climbed 38 spots at the 4.22K distance.
 
Emma Russum ran a consistent race, finishing with a time of 22:36.94.
 
"With the COVID year, Emma didn't get to run cross country, so this is basically her first cross country season in two years," Meyer said. "It's taken her a little bit to get into it, but she ran really well at conference and ran just as well today.
 
"She was confident through the whole race. She didn't let the traffic around her intimidate her. She has gotten better as the season went on. We're looking forward to what she can do next year."
 
Justine Glass the third across the line at 22:53.96.
 
"Being a senior, Justine probably wanted to do a bit better," Meyer said of his transfer. "She's been consistent for us. I wish we had more time, but she's graduating and we're more than happy to have her this year."
 
Glass led the Mocs in her first race since transferring to Chattanooga from Montevallo and remained in the top three throughout the season for UTC.
 
In the men's race, freshman Aaron Isbell struck at the perfect time and was the top Moc to finish Friday morning in the men's 10-kilometer race.
 
"At the beginning of the season, Aaron was roughly two minutes behind Jonathan and Ryan," Meyer said. "Every race he's cut that down until, at conference, he was only 15 seconds or so behind. Walking up to the start line today, Coach Ty [Griffin] and I were talking about if this would be the day he made that jump.
 
"He made a huge jump for a freshman."
 
This was the first 10K race for the rookie who covered the course in a time of 32:34.94. He was followed by Jonathan Boyd who topped his previous best time at 32:48.74, nearly 50 seconds faster than the 10K he ran in 2019 at the same championships.
 
Ryan Phillips also ran a PR in the race, shaving more than two minutes off the time he posted at the 2019 NCAA South Region Championships.
 
The trio was less than a second apart at the 1.6K split let by Boyd with Kaigen Mulkey running with the group.
 
The group was still close at the 3.4K split with Isbell pulling away slowly over the remainder of the race. Boyd posted a time of 32:56.18.
 
"We had three guys in the 32's," Meyer said of their times. "If you told me that at the beginning of the season I'd have taken that in a heart beat.
 
Eric Mitchell was the fourth scoring runner across the line for Chattanooga at 34:34.37.
 
"Eric has been our seventh or eighth runner this season," Meyer said. "He popped a good race today!"
 
The Mocs placed 21^st overall finishing just mere points behind Mercer.
 
"We finished right behind Mercer who was third in the SoCon to our seventh," Meyer said. "It tells you how well the guys ran today."
 
The women's fifth runner did not finish so the women's team did not have enough runners for a team score.
 
Ole Miss won both the mens' (68 points) and women's (69 points) races. Florida State, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida rounded out the top five. Ole Miss and Florida State earned the region's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
 
Mercy Chelangat from Alabama was the women's champion with a time of 19:34.74. Florida's Parker Valby was second followed by Sydney Seymour of Tennessee and Auburn's Joyce Kimeli.
 
Alabama earned the men's automatic bid along with Ole Miss. Rounding out the top five were Florida State in third, Lipscomb fourth and North Florida taking fifth.
 
The Seminole's Adriaan Wildschutt and Ahmed Muhumed were the top two finishers along with Alabama's Victor Kiprop, Eliud Kipsang and Hillary Cheruiyot.
 
The top two teams earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships along with the top four finishers not on the automatic qualifying teams.
 
The NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held November 20 at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.
 
INDIVIDUAL
Women – 6K

76	Lesley Green	21:50.27
120	Emma Russum	22:36.94
139	Justine Glass	22:53.96
164	Ashtyn Hagood	23:21.85
--	Allie Potter	DNF

 
Men – 10K

104	Aaron Isbell	32:34.94
109	Jonathan Boyd	32:48.74
111	Ryan Phillips	32:56.18
144	Eric Mitchell	34:34.37
149	Kaigen Mulkey	34:54.76
156	Eammon O'Bryant	35:29.13
169	Lane Hollis	37:13.29

 
 
TEAM
Women – 6K

1	Ole Miss	69
2	Florida State	86
3	Alabama	99
4	Tennessee	121
5	Florida	135
6	Vanderbilt	175
7	Lipscomb	194
8	MTSU	198
9	Georgia Tech	228
10	Auburn	309
11	Southern Miss	361
12	Georgia	364
13	Miami	414
14	Kennesaw State	430
15	UCF	455
16	ETSU	467
17	Samford	469
18	Belmont	478
19	North Florida	542
20	Tennessee Tech	570
21	Memphis	573
22	Stetson	630
23	South Florida	676
24	UAB	703
25	Alcorn State	734
26	Florida Atlantic	751
27	UT Martin	755
28	Troy	768
29	Georgia State	784
30	Florida International	791
31	Jacksonville State	844
32	Georgia Southern	936

 

1	Ole Miss	68
2	Alabama	79
3	Florida State	112
4	Lipscomb	130
5	North Florida	143
6	MTSU	178
7	Tennessee	228
8	Florida	252
9	South Alabama	296
10	ETSU	301
11	Georgia	308
12	Vanderbilt	315
13	Georgia Tech	316
14	Auburn	322
15	Belmont	33
16	Memphis	403
17	UT Martin	427
18	Tennessee Tech	428
19	Kennesaw State	496
20	Mercer	578
21	Chattanooga	583
22	South Florida	623
23	Troy	693
24	Jacksonville State	717
25	Florida Atlantic	723