Men's XC To Compete At National Championships

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill men's cross country team will be in action on Saturday, November 19, traveling to Saint Leo, Florida for the 2016 NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country National Championships.

The Lions are coming off a very impressive performance at the Southeast Regionals, placing second out of 24 teams. Nathan Jones has been a catalyst for a team that has improved week-by-week during the 2016 campaign. Jones turned in a fourth-place finish, first in the South Atlantic Conference, at the Southeast Regionals and five other top-10 finishes on the season, including three wins (UNC Asheville Challenge, Queens Royals Meet, and SAC Championships).

Garrett Farrimond and Brandon Beard will also take to the course for the Lions after pulling off 15^th and 16^th places, respectively, at the Southeast Regionals. Both Farrimond (6^th) and Beard (5^th) earned First Team All-South Atlantic Conference nods with their finishes during the 2016 SAC Championships. Gil Gilreath also found his name on that list with a seventh-place finish at the championships.

Noah Allison, who collected Second Team All-SAC, will be vying for a spot near the top on Saturday as well. Allison's time of 31:30.12 in the 10k race during regionals was good enough for fourth on the team. Nick Resor and Tucker Dandenault round out the runners for Saturday's NCAA Championships. Resor collected 42^nd at the regionals, while Dandenault, running his first-ever 10k, turned in a very respectable 114^th-place finish.

Visit the Mars Hill Lions website for live stats and all up-to-date scoring of this year's NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships.