AU cross-country teams set to compete in Southeast Regional at Wingate

By Maleigha Johnson | Sports writer

The Augusta University men and women’s cross-country teams travel to North Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 8, for the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championships.

At the regional meet at Wingate, both AU teams will be seeking a spot at the nationals.

The Jaguars finished second to Flagler in both Peach Belt Conference races on Oct. 25 at Georgia College.

The AU women's team is led by senior Madison Thomas, coming off a career-best outing at the Peach Belt Conference Championships. There Thomas, the Evans High School alumna, took third overall. Thomas was named PBC runner of the year.

Thomas hopes to lead AU to one of its strongest regional showings in program history. She'll be joined by junior Maria Biondolillo and a talented group of first-year runners.

On the men’s side, Nasrudin Mohamed and Andrew Helfers will anchor the lineup after placing in the top six at the PBC meet. Both have been leaders for a young Augusta squad that seeks to return to the national championship meet.

Only the top three teams will advance to the nationals. The national championships will be held in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 22.

According to NCAA rules, the top five individuals in each regional meet automatically qualify for the nationals. Then, after the automatic qualifiers, the next eight individuals with the highest regional finishes will be chosen as at-large selections. There is one other way to qualify in that any runner not part of an automatically qualifying team or at-large selection may still advance individually. 

Wingate will be the team to beat on both the women and men’s sides. Wingate is ranked No. 1 in the Southeast for both women and men.

For the women, Augusta will be competing with Wingate, Lincoln Memorial, Flagler, Catawba and Anderson in the competition for a spot in the nationals

For the men, AU will compete with Wingate, Flagler, Anderson and Catawba for the right to go to the nationals.

Contact Maleigha Johnson at MJOHNSON70@augusta.edu.

All-conference runner Andrew Helfers finished third in the Peach Belt Championships and hopes to lead a young Jaguar team to a top-three finish in the Southeast Regional. At the top of the page, Madison Thomas, the PBC runner of the year, leads a strong AU women’s cross-country team to the regional at Wingate. (photos by Lydia Williams/the Bell Ringer)