LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern women's cross country team will not have to travel far for the 2025 NCAA South Region Championship which will be held Saturday morning at 7:40 a.m. right here in Lakeland, Fla. The Moccasins have seen a lot of new faces at the head of the pack this season after the departure of a pair of record holders who exhausted their eligibility at the end of last season.
The Moccasins took fifth at the Sunshine State Conference Championship in their most recent event but look to move up the standings Saturday. Sunshine State Conference Champions the University of Tampa head into the weekend ranked number one in the South Region according to the most recent USTFCCCA NCAA DII Women's Cross Country Regional Rankings. The Spartans also come in at No. 21 on the national poll. A pair of teams from the Gulf South Conference sit in second and third in the regional rankings as Mississippi College holds the number two spot followed by perennial favorite Lee who ranks third after spending most of the year at No. 1.
The top seven finishers for the Mocs at the 2025 Sunshine State Conference Championship included junior
Grace Reed, senior
Rachel Hockenberry, freshman
Reagan Chambless, sophomores
Heloise Pinto,
Nika Gividen and
Alena Pezzoli along with junior
Emma Pfeiffer. Reed led the way for the Moccasins as she took 15th overall in the 6K race while clocking in at 22:11.9. Hockenberry was the next Moccasin to cross the line as she placed 27th overall, just ahead of teammate Chambless who took 29th. Hockenberry clocked in at 23:04.7 while Chambless crossed the line in 23:07.5. The final two scorers for FSC were Pinto and Gividen. Pinto completed the course in 23:27.5 while Gividen stopped the clock at 23:33.8. Pfeiffer and Pezzoli just missed out on the scoring five as they finished back-to-back in 40th and 41st. Pfeiffer just edged Pezzoli at 23:37.3 while the sophomore crossed the line in 23:44.1.
The top three teams from each regional meet will automatically advance to the championship finals which will be held in Kenosha, Wis. on Nov. 22. Ten at-large teams from throughout the country will be selected by the NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country Committee based on a number of criteria found on NCAA.org. The top two individuals who are not part of a qualifying team will also automatically advance to the championship finals as well as all individuals who finish in the top five at a regional meet and are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championship finals. An additional eight at-large individual selections will be selected by the committee.
The Mocs took fifth overall at the 2024 NCAA South Region Championship as four seniors finished in the top seven for the Mocs. The lone two returners from last year's race include Reed, who took 33
rd overall, and Pfeiffer, who placed 36
th last season. The championship is scheduled to begin at 7:40 a.m. Saturday morning.
