MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Gulf South Conference men's cross country teams provided a strong showing in the NCAA South Regional Championship on Saturday, Nov. 4 in Montevallo, Ala., as Lee won the men's title, while Mississippi College's Jan Lukas Becker won the individual title.
 
FINAL RESULTS

The Flames defended their title for the third consecutive year, after recording 45 points. The Choctaws finished third with 90 points, while Alabama Huntsville claimed fourth with 99 points. This is the fifth-straight season the the Gulf South Conference had at three teams finish the inside the top five, and the first time since 2019 that six schools were among the top-10.
 
Individually, GSC runners claimed the top five spots, and seven out of the top ten. Becker won the South Region individual title for the second consecutive year completing the 10K course with a time of 29:21.3. His performance was nearly 40 seconds better than his time last season and was the fastest-time by a GSC runner at the regional meet in the conference's history.

Christian Brothers' Berket Mesele (29:51.40), UAH's Sam Wilhelm (29:57.70), Lee's Matthew Fowler (30:04.60), and Mississippi College's Braedon Methvin (30:15.60) followed. With the quintet of GSC finishers, it marked just the third time since 2006 and first time since 2008 that the conference swept the top five spots.  

Based on the final results, Lee and Mississippi College will both earned automatic bids to the NCAA National Championship in Joplin, Mo. Meanwhile Mesele and Wilhelm qualified as an individuals.
 
GSC TEAM RESULTS
1. Lee – 45
3. Mississippi College – 90
4. Alabama Huntsville – 99
7. Christian Brothers – 224
8. Auburn Montgomery – 234
9. West Florida – 268
11. Union – 322
14. Valdosta State – 378
 
Teams and individual runners who did not qualify automatically will now wait for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship committee to make its at-large selections. The full field will be announced via press release on Monday, Nov. 6 on NCAA.com.
 
NOTE: The top three teams from each regional meet will automatically advance to the championship finals. Ten at-large teams from throughout the country will be selected by the NCAA Division II Men's & Women's Cross Country Committee based on a number of criteria found on NCAA.org. The top two individuals who are not part of a qualifying team will also automatically advance to the championship meet as well as all individuals who finish in the top five at a regional meet and are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championship finals. An additional eight at-large individual selections will be selected by the committee.