HBCUAC Champion Talladega, Individual Qualifiers run for 2025 NAIA Championship
NEW ORLEANS - Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) champion Talladega College and individual qualifiers run for the 2025 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) 46th Annual Women's Cross Country National Championship at 7:30 a.m. Friday at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
Talladega College is making their first NAIA National Championship appearance in program history after capturing the 2025 HBCUAC Cross Country Championship. They had six runners finish in the top 10, led by the individual champion Jewel Cross, who finished in a meet record 25:27.4. Lauren Henderson finished fourth, Mary Rodriguez finished sixth, and Lamoy Duffus and Aliana Taylor finished at eighth and ninth, respectively.
Dillard freshman Karlise Davison finished runner-up at the 2025 HBCUAC Cross Country Championship at 26:39. Tougaloo College Herlancia Miller finished third at 26:44. Voorhees University freshman Rena Chebor took fifth and Dillard freshman Nhaydia Flowers finished seventh to round out the individual qualifiers.
Fans can catch the championship on the Urban Edge Network. Live results will also be available.
About the 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), Huston-Tillotson University (TX), Oakwood University (AL), Paul Quinn College (TX), 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 soccer, men's and women's track and field, women's volleyball, softball, 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.