HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Lee University lifted the women’s cross country 2024 NCAA Division II South Region Championship trophy on Saturday morning at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala. The Lady Flames were paced individual champion Aria Hawkins.
Lee collected its fifth consecutive with an impressive 18 points as all five scoring runners were among the top-eight, highlighted by a 1-2-3 finish.
As the result, the Lady Flames set a Gulf South Conference record for the lowest team score by women’s program at the NCAA regional race. The performance is also the second-best by any GSC program–men’s or women’s–at the region race, following a perfect finish by the Harding men’s team in 2008.
FULL RESULTS (HTML)
Alabama Huntsville also posted a notable performance scoring 120 points as it took fourth, while Mississippi College had 171 points and finished sixth overall. Montevallo, West Florida, Union, Trevecca Nazarene and Valdosta State finished in spots nine through 13, respectively.
For the second consecutive season, Hawkins paced the field to be crowned the region’s top runner. She navigated the 6K course in 20:32.25 to be the first back-to-back winner since former teammate and Lady Flame standout Celine Ritter won in 2019 and 2021. Her performance also marked the fifth straight season that the South Region meet individual champion was a GSC runner.
Lee teammates Ana Patricia Campos (20:53.75) finished second, Lily Hare (21:10.98) was third and Letlhogonolo Magoro (21:33.07) rounded out the top five, while Nova Southeastern’s Jillian Thorning was fourth (21:14.65).
Mississippi College’s Taylor Benoit (21:39.23) and UAH’s Lucy Barker (22:18.91) also clocked in notable performances finishing sixth and 14th, respectively.
The 2024 NCAA Division II National Championship will be held at Arcade Creek Cross Country Cross on Nov. 23 in Sacramento, Calif. The full list of participants will be announced Monday, Nov. 11 via press release on ncaa.com.
NCAA D2 Women’s Cross Country South Region - 6K
1. Lee - 18
2. Tampa - 79
3. Nova Southeastern- 92
4. UAH - 120
5. Florida Southern - 151
6. Mississippi College - 171
7. Palm Beach Atlantic - 188
8. Embry-Riddle - 206
9. Montevallo - 275
10. West Florida - 294
11. Union - 306
12. Trevecca Nazarene - 309
13. Valdosta State - 334
14. Lynn - 379
15. Barry - 447
NCAA All-Region Honorees from GSC (Top 25)
1. Aria Hawkins, LEE (20:32.25)
2. Ana Patricia Campos, LEE (20:53.72)
3. Lily Hare, LEE (21:10.98)
5. Letlhogonolo Magoro, LEE (21:33.07)
6. Taylor Benoit, MC (21:39.23)
7. Megan Adams, LEE (21:46.94)
10. Ashlyn Iliff, LEE (22:05.25)
13. Katie Krueger, LEE (22:12.84)
14. Lucy Barker, UAH (22:18.91)
17. Aylin Vega, UAH (22:33.28)
20. Victoria Markham, UU (22:37.95)
23. Tamsyn Gibbs, UAH (22:48.02)
24. Addi Aguayo, UU (22:50.28)
25. Natalie Warner, UM (22:53.71)