San Antonio - The Trinity Tigers men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, on Saturday.

The women's 6k race begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. Central), and the men's 8k event starts at 12:30 p.m.

The top two teams of each race will advance to the NCAA Championships to be held November 23 at Hanover, Indiana. The top seven runners, who are not part of the first two teams, will also qualify for nationals.

Trinity's women's squad, now ranked 12th in the nation, won the regional meet last year for the third time. The Tigers, who scored 39 points, previously won the regional in 2004 and 2008. Seven women's runners earned All-Region honors, the most in Trinity history for a single season.

Vanessa Moreno and Maddie Murphy finished second and third, respectively, while Rosemary Steup was sixth. Jackie Newell came in at No. 13, and Jessica Pagano placed 17th.  Nicola Hill and Jessie Dean ran 26th and 29th, to round out the All-Region honorees.

The Tiger men finished as runners-up at the 2012 regionals, along with placing four competitors in the All-Region column. Of the returnees, Taylor Piske earned All-Region honors with a 16th-place finish.  Trinity's women's team went on to finish in the No. 12 slot at nationals, and the men placed 32nd.

Head Coach Derick Lawrence was named the 2012 South/Southeast Region Women's Coach of the Year.

Earlier this month, both Tiger teams captured the Southern Collegiate Athletic Cross Country Championships for the second straight year. The meet was held at Shreveport, La. Trinity's women  once again registered a perfect score of 15 in the 6k race, as Tiger runners finished in first though fifth place. The Tiger men completed the 8k event with a score of 28, edging Colorado College by one point (29 points).

Murphy won the conference women's title, a feat she accomplished in 2011, clocking in at 22:02.4. Murphy, the runner-up in 2012, was named the SCAC Runner of the Year. Moreno, the 2012 champion, placed second behind her teammate with a time of 22:26.3. Completing the top-five women's slots were Steup (22:41.5), Michelle Oberndorf (22.47.1), and Newell (23:06.1). Trinity placed eight runners on the All-SCAC Team, including Hill (seventh – 23.14.8), Autumn Kervella (ninth – 23:28.5), and Mariana Sigala (14th– 23:51.0).

The Tiger men had six runners finish in the top-10, paced by Piske, who placed second, at 26:17.7. Trinity runners took places 5-8, starting with Gerardo Hernandez (26:44.). Rounding out the slots for the Tigers were Chris Soto (26:45.4), Phillip Flagg (27:13.1), and newcomer Tristan Ashton (27:15.9).

By virtue of his eighth-place finish, the best of all first-year athletes, Ashton was named SCAC Freshman of the Year. Evan Epps placed 10th (27:27.0), and Brandon Douglas was 14th (27:45.8). The Tigers had eight men on the All-SCAC Team.

Coach Lawrence was elected the SCAC Men's and Women's Coach of the Year. He is assisted by Emily (Loeffler) Daum, a former four-time Trinity women's All-American in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field.

This year, Trinity's women's team has captured three team titles, including the Alamo City Opener and UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic (among non-Division I teams) in San Antonio, along with the Hanover Pre-Nationals.

The Tiger men won two team titles this season, both in San Antonio: the Alamo City Opener and the UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic. Trinity placed 10th at the Hanover Pre-Nationals.