DAHLONEGA — For the second time in three years, the road to the NCAA Cross Country National Championship will run through the University of North Georgia's Gainesville Campus as UNG was picked to host the Southeast Regional.
The event is tentatively scheduled for November 7.
The Nighthawks hosted the Southeast Regional field for the first time in 2018, marking the first time UNG was awarded championship hosting rights through the NCAA's open bid process (non-seeded event) and the first time that a NCAA championship event took place in Hall County.
Prior to hosting the regional, North Georgia will have the Southeast Regional course race ready for preview at the eighth annual UNG Invitational on September 12 on the Gainesville campus.
The regional is expecting over 300 competitors from nearly 50 teams (25 men and 25 women) comprised of schools from the Peach Belt Conference, Conference Carolinas and the South Atlantic Conference.
North Georgia's Southeast Regional will serve as one of eight regional sites with the top finishers advancing to the 2020 Championship at Angel Mounds in Evansville, Indiana.
The University of Southern Indiana will host the 2020 National Championship, working in conjunction with the Evansville Sports Corporation to stage the event. Prior to the national championship, Angel Mounds will also play host to the Midwest Regional.
A total of 34 teams will advance out of regionals or be selected for the 2020 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. The top three teams from each of the eight regional meets will automatically advance to the championship finals (24 teams). An additional ten (10) at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country Committee using an outlined selection criteria with no limit to the number of at-large teams that may be selected from any given region.
The UNG Cross Country Course is all grass and dirt and is considered "flat and fast." Per NCAA championship guidelines, the NCAA Regional will be run as a 6K for the women and a 10K for the men. The UNG Cross Country Course is generally set up as a 2K loop. Fans can come to either the UNG Invitational or the NCAA Southeast Regional as admission is free and open to the public. Both events will also be carried live on the Nighthawk Sports Network for fans unable to travel to Gainesville.
