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HBCU Athletic Conference

2024 Preseason Women's Cross Country All-HBCUAC Team, Rankings Announced

Ja'Neisha Collins of Philander Smith is the defending conference champion.
Ja'Neisha Collins of Philander Smith is the defending conference champion.
August 30, 2024

NEW ORLEANS - August 30, 2024 - The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) presents its 2024 Preseason Women's Cross Country All-HBCUAC Team and Team Rankings, as voted on by the conference head coaches. Points are derived by the order each coach ranks athletes and teams.

Coming in first as the Preseason HBCUAC Runner of the Year is 2023 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Champion Ja'Neisha Collins of Philander Smith University with 24 points. She won the title in 26:12, which was 11 seconds faster than the runner-up. Collins earned All-GCAC for the second straight season. Joining Collins on the 2024 All-HBCUAC Team are:

Jewel Cross of Talladega College: Finished runner-up in the 2023 GCAC Championship
Ty'Mya Sims of Tougaloo College: Finished fifth at the 2023 GCAC Championship
Kennedy Timmons of Dillard University: Finished sixth at the 2023 GCAC Championship
Jaiaa Sims of Stillman College: ran a personal best 30:12 at the 2023 Southern States Athletic Conference Championship

The HBCUAC also released its 2024 Team Rankings, determined by the conference coaches. Dillard University, which won the last three GCAC Championships is favored to defend its title, as it garnered 75 points and five first-place votes. Philander Smith University, which finished third in the last season's championship, followed with 72 points and one first-place vote. Below are the complete rankings:

 

  1. Dillard University (75)

  2. Philander Smith University

  3. Talladega College

  4. Wiley University

  5. Rust College

      5. Tougaloo College

      7. Stillman College
      8. Voorhees University

      9. Fisk University

    10. University of Virgin Islands 

    11. Wilberforce University

 

Fans can keep up with the action by following the HBCUAC and their respective institution's social media accounts. For the third straight season, the 2024 HBCUAC Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship will be held at the Oakville Indian Mounds Cross Country Course in Danville, Ala. on October 18 and will be streamed live on HBCU-Plus.

-HBCUAC-

About HBCU Athletic Conference:
The HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) is the only HBCU conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The HBCUAC membership includes Dillard University (LA), Fisk University (TN), Oakwood University (AL), Philander Smith University (AR), Rust College (MS), Southern University at New Orleans (LA), Stillman College (AL), Talladega College (AL), Tougaloo College (MS), University of the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), Voorhees University (SC), Wilberforce University (OH), and Wiley University (TX). HBCUAC sponsors championships in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track and field, women's volleyball, and baseball. In 2022, the HBCUAC secured the largest media rights deal in conference and NAIA history, signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Urban Edge Network. On July 1, 2024, the conference rebranded from the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) to the HBCU Athletic Conference, marking a new era for the conference that embodies the makeup of its membership. For more information, visit hbcuac.org.