UTC junior Emmanuel Kirwa placed 18th overall and led the Mocs to a 12th place finish at the NCAA South Region meet at the Harry Pritchett Race Course in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Kapsabet, Kenya, native earned his second all-region honor with the finish, but will likely miss qualifying for the NCAA Nationals by just a few spots. He ran the 10,000 meter course in a time of 31:00.98.

Auburn’s Felix Kibioywo was the men’s region champ with a time of 29:35.85.

“Emmanuel ran a good race,” UTC Head Coach Bill Gautier said.

“He got the flu right after conference and I was glad it happened then.”

Kirwa, the Peach Belt Runner of the Year in his freshman season at Benedict College, claimed his second straight Southern Conference Runner of the Year title at the league championships at the end of last month.

Sophomore Joshue Vasquez placed 54th overall with a time of 32:24.61. Senior David Moore was the Mocs third finisher at 77th with a time of 33:00.05. Freshman Kyle McLarty was 93rd in the race followed by classmate Mark Cole at 117. The race featured 173 runners from the NCAA’s South Region.

The Mocs, ranked 13th in the South Region headed into today’s championships finished 12th overall out of 16 schools. Host Alabama won the event for the second straight year followed by Florida State, Auburn, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.

“Region is very, very tough. It’s tough for a lot of people,” Gautier said. “A lot are coming off emotional highs and emotional lows from their conference meets.”

The Mocs placed ahead of teams such as Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Miami and SoCon foe Samford.

“We beat who we’re supposed to beat and nobody we weren’t supposed to,” Gautier said. “We could have been as high as 10th but we still be quite a few big teams. I’m happy.”

In the women’s race, junior Anneli Uys finished 33rd overall leading the Lady Mocs to a 16th place finish despite illness and injuries to some of the runners. She ran the 6K race in a time of 21:32.32.

Florida sophomore Rebecca Lowe claimed the top spot in the race with a time of 20:03.29.

“I couldn’t have picked a worse day for the race,” Gautier said. “Anneli ran hard, but Heather [Stuive] got sick and Mary [Cumbee] had a leg injury.”

Stuive was 78th overall with a time of 22:38.30. Freshman Kathryn Stuart was 85th overall with a time of 22:45.89. Freshman Cumbee was 128th overall and senior Lauren Anderson was 136th. The women’s race featured 170 runners from the NCAA’s South Region.

Despite the setbacks, the Lady Mocs finished right behind Southern Conference champion Samford who was 15th overall.

“I’m very optimistic about the future,” Gautier said. “Everyone has growing pains. Our day is coming. The women who ran today did what they were supposed to do.

“We’ve got to regroup now and move on to indoor track.”

Florida won the women’s race followed by Florida State, Tennessee, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Auburn and Alabama.

The Running Mocs will open the indoor track season after the New Year.