TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Kennesaw State junior Mackenzie Howe and senior Britany Reilly put themselves up against the best runners in the South on Saturday at the NCAA South Region Championship, finishing 18th and 69th, respectively.

The two faced stiff competition at the Harry Pritchett Running Course in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as the 170-runner field featured competitors from schools such as Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, and Tennessee, among many others. It was the first time the Owls were able to compete in an NCAA Regional, having just completed the mandatory four-year reclassification process required for all programs moving up to the Division I level.

Competing in their only 6k race of the season, Howe and Reilly were helped by the fact that they were familiar with the course, which they had run on in a 5k format at the Crimson Classic on September 18.

Although both fell short of their goal of qualifying for NCAA Championship on November 23 in at Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind., women’s cross country head coach Stan Sims was very happy with how both runners performed, and thought their outings were a microcosm of what made them so successful during the fall.

“Mackenzie and Britany, you never have to worry about their preparation for a race,” said Sims, whose squad finished the season with a 77-9 record, the .895 winning percentage being the highest in the Owls’ history as a Division I program. “I let them know at the beginning of the season what was expected of them, and they’ve gone and done it at the highest level. This was a great test for them to compete against some of the best runners in the region, and they performed admirably.”

In order to qualify for the National Championship, a runner must finish in the top four among runners whose teams did not qualify for the championship. In this case, with Florida and Florida State finishing in the top two, the top four runners on Saturday not on Florida or Florida State would qualify. Howe finished ninth in that category, her time of 20:58.62 falling about 25 seconds short of what would have been needed to make it. Reilly finished the race with a time of 22:19.36.

“It’s disappointing to have not made it to nationals, but I gave it a great effort,” said Howe, who won Atlantic Sun Runner of the Week honors five times during the 2009 season. “I was thrilled to have been able to run against this competition. I knew it would start off fast, so I tried to put myself towards the front of the pack and keep up with the pace being set. The course was pretty fast, and in great condition, and getting to run against these teams definitely helped my time.”

Howe finished second among Atlantic Sun runners, with reigning A-Sun Runner of the Year Brittany Thune finishing in 16th place overall. Mackenzie finished fourth among all runners from Georgia schools, which included KSU, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State.