Cross country: Ole Miss men take eighth at NCAA South Regional

Ole Miss’ men’s cross country team finished eighth and the women placed 10th at the 2026 NCAA South Regional at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida. The women ran the 6K at 7:30 a.m. CT, followed by the men’s 10K at 8:30 a.m. CT.

Kidus Misgina led the men with a third-place finish in 29:04.9, the program’s highest NCAA Regional result since Farah Abdulkarim also finished third in 2018. Misgina earned an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championship meet in Terre Haute, Indiana, scheduled for Saturday, November 21. Owen Kelley placed 20th in 30:12.1 and also earned All-Region honors.

Ole Miss scored 182 points and finished eighth among 21 scoring teams. John Shoemaker was 39th in 30:51.8, Samuel Ferguson placed 58th in 31:25.6, Sergio Del Barrio finished 70th in 31:43.6 and Ky Hehir was 77th in 31:50.6.

The women finished 10th among 30 scoring schools, with all five scorers placing in the top 100 of a field of more than 200 runners. Alicia Finnis led Ole Miss in 46th at 20:55.2, followed by Leah Penick in 53rd at 21:03.0, Jillian Candelino in 67th at 21:18.7, Brooke Preputnick in 74th at 21:22.8 and Hannah Doyle in 93rd at 21:39.8. Zoe Marsh placed 104th in 21:49.9 and Adie Luna was 118th in 22:04.9.

Source: Ole Miss Athletics.