MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Mississippi College cross country teams turned in a strong showing at the 2025 Gulf South Conference Championships on Saturday morning at Shelby Farms, highlighted by the women's program winning its first-ever conference title.
The Choctaw women ran one of the most complete team races in program history, placing all five scorers inside the top 14 to total 43 points and claim the championship. Lee (Tenn.) finished second with 51 points, followed by Alabama-Huntsville (87), West Florida (100), and Union (Tenn.) (166).
Senior Lauren Wallace led Mississippi College with a fourth-place finish in 20 minutes, 45.59 seconds. Senior Bre Bell crossed the line in fifth (21:05.66), followed by senior Taylor Benoit in seventh (21:20.65). Freshman Audrey Mayatte (13th, 21:42.07) and sophomore Kinley Harris (14th, 21:43.70) rounded out the scoring. Catherine Wallace (17th, 21:53.31) and Kate Finch (22nd, 22:01.89) also turned in strong performances to provide additional depth.
Lee's Maria Mitchell captured the individual women's title in 20:23.15, while Union's Addi Aguayo (20:32.40) and Lee's Estella Clemons (20:39.19) rounded out the top three.
On the men's side, Mississippi College finished third with 88 points, behind champion Lee (21) and runner-up Alabama-Huntsville (57). The Choctaws placed five runners in the top 25, led by senior Cooper Parmer in 14th with a time of 24:30.3. Senior Christian Balcer finished 15th (24:34.34), followed by junior Baxter Friedman in 17th (24:38.46), sophomore Sidney Stegall in 22nd (24:58.77), and junior Matthew Singletary in 23rd (25:00.46).
Alabama-Huntsville's Ahmed Ibrahim won the men's individual title in 23:29.4, with Lee's Pierre Chauveau (23:48.6) and Tucker Wright (23:51.9) rounding out the top three.
Head coach Joe Snyder praised both teams and assistant coach Will Webber for their effort and leadership:
"First off, I want to emphasize just how proud I am of Coach Webber for what he's done with our distance athletes the last couple years. To say I'm proud of him and these athletes is an understatement. Our men's and women's teams both ran Free today, leaving it all out on the course. We reminded our athletes this morning that when they pair belief with action, they can accomplish anything. Our ladies ran inspired today, and they did it for each other. I'm proud to be their coach!!"
The championship meet was hosted by Christian Brothers University and streamed live on FloCollege.
