Men’s cross country finishes in 21st at NCAA South Regionals

The Troy men’s cross-country team concluded the 2017 season with a 21st place finish at the NCAA South Regionals, hosted by the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Friday.

The Trojans struggled against Division I opponents. Troy’s Brackin Stewart led the team in the 10k with a 73rd place finish and a time of 32:53.5.

Behind Stewart, Brennan Garriques finished 96th with a time of 33:20.1. Bradley Dixon finished 106th with a time of 33:35.2.

Sawyer Sprung finished 134th with a time of 34:34.7, and Daniel Glick finished 152nd with a time of 35:32.4 to round out the day for the Trojans.

At the meet, Troy faced competition from across the Southeast, including Division I schools from the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Troy also faced in-state competition from Samford and rival South Alabama.

The University of Alabama had three runners in the top four, including the individual winner of the race, but Middle Tennessee State finished first overall with a total time of 2:34:46.4 and an average time of 30:57:28.0.

Ole Miss finished second, host Alabama finished third, Florida State finished fourth and Tennessee rounded out the top five in the 10k.

Troy’s total time of 2:49:55.70 and average time of 33:59.14 put the Trojans in 21st place of the 24 teams at the regional, edging out Austin Peay, South Florida and Florida Atlantic.

The Trojans came up short of topping Sun Belt rival South Alabama, who finished 18th overall with a total time of 2:47:51.80 and an average time of 33:34.36.

The NCAA South Regionals were the eighth and final meet for the Trojans to conclude the 2017 season.