HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Northeast Mississippi Community College's newest athletic programs made history in more than one way at their first postseason meet.
The Lady Tigers and Tigers both captured the inaugural National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 23 championships in the sport of cross country.
The races were hosted by the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) on Friday, October 25 in Huntsville, Ala., at John Hunt Park. It was the first event for Northeast all season against solely two-year institutions.
Northeast competed against runners from NJCAA Region 17 as well. The Lady Tigers bested second place Georgia Military College while the Tigers finished just one point behind Oxford (Ga.) College of Emory University in the overall standings.
It was the first-ever win for the Northeast women. Both the Lady Tigers and Tigers secured berths to the NJCAA Division II national championship based upon their results.
"We got started essentially in May and put together a quality season," said Northeast head coach Aaron Hight. "We've had some ups and downs, but pushed hard at the end to get to this opportunity."
Dawson Boyd and Eva Null were the NJCAA Region 23 individual runners-up behind entrants from East Central Community College. Boyd registered an 8K time of 31:12.15 while Null checked in at 22:19.06 in the 6K format.
Northeast had four racers inside the top 10 of each contest. Briley Lesley came in fifth at 22:38.36 while Reagan George was not far behind with a 23:57.34.
Alcorn Central High School graduates Ellie Pellizzer and Neely Rorie crossed the finish line within seven seconds of each other. They clocked in at 25:21.44 and 25:27.78, respectively.
Sam Lamy, Isaac Vega and Austin Hairrell were separated by less than a minute and a half. Rounding out the Tigers' competitors were Adam Galloway (38:06.30) and Ethan Nelms (40:07.60).
"We couldn't be more excited," Hight said. "I tried to encourage them at the starting line saying, 'You've got to lock in and just go.' They were able to do that."
The NJCAA Division II championship takes place on Saturday, November 9 in Mechanicsville, Va., at Pole Green Park. It was the site of the 2023-24 USA Track and Field (USATF) cross country nationals.