TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In a season of firsts for Samford University cross country, Arsène Guillorel continued to raise the bar as he became the first ever Samford male cross country student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships after his performance at the NCAA South Regional meet on Friday, Nov. 13, at the Harry Pritchett Cross Country Course.

In the first 2-kilometors Guillorel paced himself at a clip of 5:59.3 which was right behind the race leader in Alabama's Antibahs Kosgei who led with a 5:59.1 split. The pair continued to pace the field to the 4-kilometer mark as each posted a 6:08.2 split with times 12:07.3 and 12:07.4 respectively.

In the final half of the race the duo continued to battle with Guillorel applying pressure to Kosgei but the Alabama runner gained separation in the final 2-kilometers to take the regionals with a time of 30:25.7 which was just mere seconds faster than Guillorel's second place time of 30:33.5.

Guillorel's next stop will be Louisville, Kentucky, to race at the NCAA Cross Country Championships at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park which will be hosted by the University of Louisville on Nov. 21.

The Bulldogs also received standout performances from freshman Ben Bryant who tallied a 59^th place finish with a time of 32:31.70 and senior Luke Weishaar who placed 79^th with a time of 32:52.52.

Emma Garner stood out amongst the Samford women as the most consistent runner of the meet. The sophomore found herself 61^st after the 2-kilometer mark with a split of 7:02.45 and made a move up to 59^th overall at the 4-kilometer mar with a time of 14:22.48. However, Garner dropped 72^nd overall in the final kilometer to finish with a time of 21:54.98.

Junior Ansley Bos capped off the women's team with a 123^rd finish time of 22:48.76. Bos completed 4-kilometer split with a time 15:17.72 which he improved from 136^th place to finish strong.