The South region experienced some rebranding during the 2021 regional alignment, which moved all Kentucky teams to the Great Lakes region (because everyone knows Kentucky borders the Great Lakes). 

Last season, the South region was dominated by the men’s and women’s teams from Emory and Lynchburg, which will likely also be the case this year. Many impact runners from these teams will return to the startline. However, watch out for some key contributors from the squads of Washington & Lee and Christopher Newport to shake up the standings. In a region where it’s entirely likely that only the auto-qualifying team could advance to NCAAs, every point counts. 

Men’s Region

Expect a competitive rematch between the men’s squads from Emory and Lynchburg, who faced off against each other three times last year. Emory emerged victorious at the mid-season Pre-NCAA meet and received the automatic bid to NCAAs after a win at Regionals, but Lynchburg stole the show at NCAAs, putting four guys ahead of Emory’s number one finisher to earn an 18th-place finish. 

Lynchburg will return all competitors from that NCAA squad except Brennan Straits. Of special note on this roster is Maximillian Sparks, who won the South regional championships last year, Sam Llaneza, who earned two All-American finishes in the track season last year in the indoor mile and outdoor 1500m, and Frank Csorba, who won amidst a stacked field at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle last cross country season. Lynchburg also adds to their roster Centre-transfer Marko Kovacevic, who holds high school PRs of 16:06 in the 5k and 1:54 in the 800m, as well as incoming 4:20 miler Chasen Hunt (an excellent name for a runner looking to target some blue and gold Emory jerseys). 

Emory will return fourth-place regional finisher Brett Lucas as well as several younger members from their roster such as David Evans, Andrew Pahnke, and Justin Pecore. Rising sophomore Tristan Olpin returns after a productive track season in which he ran under 15 minutes in the outdoor 5k. With the loss of a few key senior members, these youngsters will need to step up this year to hold off their Lynchburg competitors in this region. 

Outside of Lynchburg and Emory, the squads from Christopher Newport, Berry, and Washington & Lee have enough pieces to be dangerous. Christopher Newport adds 14:45 5k man John Vogel to their XC roster, Berry returns All-Regional finishers Bradshaw Lathbury (3rd) and Brody Wallace (32nd), and Washington & Lee adds Dickinson transfer Charles Scharf (7th overall in the Mid-Atlantic region) as well as incoming freshman and 9:35 two-miler Colin Verrett. 

On the individual front, all national qualifiers from last year except Rhodes’s Ben Hazelwood and Berry’s Cameron Bensley will return to the start line. These include:

• Dylan May of Southern Virginia (2nd)

• Lathbury of Berry (3rd)

• Jared Briant of Rhodes (6th)

• Drew Topoly of Methodist (7th)

• Joe O’Rourke of Catholic (12th)

In a region where only two teams might advance to NCAAs, positioning up front is crucial for individuals. Look for Washington & Lee’s Scharf to go after one of these individual qualifying spots, the other of which, may be wide open.

Men’s team predictions:

1. Lynchburg

2. Emory

3. Washington & Lee

4. Christopher Newport

5. Berry

Men’s individual predictions:

1. Maximillian Sparks (Lynchburg)

2. Frank Csorba (Lynchburg)

3. Dylan May (Southern Virginia)

4. Brett Lucas (Emory)

5. Sam Llaneza (Lynchburg)

6. Jared Briant (Rhodes)

7. Bradshaw Lathbury (Berry)

8. Joe O’Rourke (Catholic)

9. David Evans (Emory)

10. Charles Scharf (Washington & Lee)

Women’s Region

At the 2021 South Regional Championships, blue and gold jerseys and crimson and grey jerseys took turns crossing the finish line, as the top five finishers all represented either Emory or Lynchburg. Emory ultimately took the automatic qualifying spot led by cross country All-American Annika Urban, who will be returning for her final season this year.

Urban’s breakout season last year was the key to Emory’s team success. In 2019, she finished 266th at the national meet and last year she was 12th! An impressive improvement guided her to a strong Outdoor national meet where she placed sixth in the 1500 and 10th in the 5k. She’ll likely use her range to help guide Emory back to the national meet.

 Behind Urban, Emory saw five more All-Regional finishers (they only raced six at regionals): 

• Bella Racette (3rd)

• Liesl Scherrer (5th)

• Shannon Marsh (10th)

• Lauren Anshen (12th)

• Helena Kummings (13th)

All but Racette are expected to return to the starting line this year in addition to rising sophomore Ellie Long, who was Emory’s seventh team finisher at the NCAA championship. As a team, Emory took 19th at NCAAs and will likely look to try to build upon this performance from last year.

Lynchburg loses frontrunner Stephanie Burnett, who took runner-up at the Regional Championship last year, and All-Region finisher Jackie Wilson, but will return everyone else on their roster. This squad saw their highest finish at the regional meet in program history last year, thanks to six All-Region performances:

• Burnett (2nd)

• Kelsey Lagunas (4th)

• Allison Dell (11th)

• Sarah James (14th)

• Wilson (23rd)

• Lauren Massey (32nd)

Dell and James were just freshmen last year who gained valuable experience competing at the national level. With the addition of Virginia 1A State Champ Hailey Smith, the Hornets will look to repeat qualification to the national stage. Regardless of who wins the battle between Emory and Lynchburg, competitors know the closer the score and the more teams they beat outside of their region throughout the regular season, the more likely their chance of both advancing to NCAAs as they did last year.

 Washington & Lee will also return a young roster. Everyone who ran at the regional meet last year but Avery Schiffman, who missed NCAA qualification by one spot, is expected to be back again this year. This lineup includes five all-region honorees from last year. The Generals were led by Carolyn Todd, who was W&L’s sole national qualifier.

The teams from Christopher Newport and Rhodes round out the top five. CNU loses their top three finishers from last year but adds sub-18 5ker Logan Warden to their cross country lineup. Rhodes returns four of last year’s five regional competitors. 

The individual race is Urban’s for the taking. The Emory star was 12th at cross country NCAAs last year, took much of the indoor season off, and then came back to take sixth in the NCAA outdoor 1500m, adding another All-American honors to her belt. With key national contenders like Ari Marks and Evie Miller out of the picture, Urban is well on track for a top-ten finish in the nation this year. 

Urban will look for her teammates to cross the finish line right behind her, but look for Lynchburg’s Lagunas, Dell, and James to also be in the mix. Four of last year’s seven NCAA qualifiers will not be returning, which allows returners like Todd from W&L, Corrine Weaver from Meredith, and Erin Atkinson from Shenandoah, as well as a few other rising stars to enter the national conversation. 

Women’s team predictions:

1. Emory

2. Lynchburg

3. Washington & Lee

4. Christopher Newport

5. Rhodes

Women’s individual predictions:

1. Annika Urban (Emory)

2. Kelsey Lagunas (Lynchburg)

3. Carolyn Todd (Washington & Lee)

4. Liesl Scherrer (Emory)

5. Allison Dell (Lynchburg)

6. Lauren Anshen (Emory)

7. Corrine Weaver (Meredith)

8. Shannon Marsh (Emory)

9. Sarah James (Lynchburg)

10. Erin Atkinson (Shenandoah)