Liberty Men, Coastal Carolina Women Win the 2008 New Balance Big South Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship Presented by UCS

LYNCHBURG, VA. – The Liberty men and Coastal Carolina women won the 2008 New Balance Big South Cross Country Championships presented by UCS on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. on Saturday morning.  High Point’s Zsanett Kis took the top spot in the women’s 5K to pick up Runner of the Year honors.  The Flames’ Sam Chelanga finished first in the men’s 8K to take home the men’s Runner of the Year honor.

The Chanticleers finished with 54 points, followed by Liberty with 55 and High Point with 58.  VMI was fourth with 126 points, while Radford was fifth with 130 points.  In sixth was Winthrop with 143 points and in seventh was Big South newcomer Gardner-Webb 187 points.  UNC Asheville (193) and Charleston Southern (237) rounded out the list for the women

Kis posted a time of 18:23 to finish 16 seconds ahead of Liberty’s Rebekah Ricksecker who clocked in at 18:39.  In third-place was Mia Wyszynski of Coastal Carolina with a time of 18:45, followed by teammate Maranie Staab who finished with a time of 18:46.  Panther runner Kali Burt checked in at 18:52 to finish fifth and VMI’s Hannah Granger posted a time of 18:56 to finish sixth.  In seventh-place was Christian Johnson from Coastal Carolina with a time of 19:02, edging Radford’s Lori Crotts who finished with a time of 19:03.  Carey Phillips from Winthrop was the ninth-place finisher with a time of 19:08 and Ashley Osborne of Liberty closed out the list of All-Big South runners with a time of 19:10.

The Liberty men posted 28 points, followed by High Point (64) and VMI (79).  In fourth-place was Coastal Carolina with 134 points and UNC Asheville closed the top five 147 points.  Winthrop and Radford finished tied for sixth with 151 points.  Gardner-Webb finished eighth 224 and Charleston Southern was ninth with 240 points.

The Flames finished No. 1 and No. 2 in Sam Chelanga who posted a time of 24:32 and Jordan McDougal who clocked in at 24:55.  Jesse Cherry’s time of 25:05 was good for third.  Liberty’s Josh Edmonds was fourth with a time of 25:20, followed Jaime McCarthy from Coastal Carolina who posted of a time of 25:37.  Radford’s Dawit Legesse checked in at No. 6 with a time of 25:54.  VMI took the next two spots in Donnie Cowart (25:57) and Ermin Mujezinovic (26:02).  Anthony Burkis of High Point was ninth with his time of 26:07 and Jake Reed of Liberty rounded out the All-Conference runners with a time of 26:11.

Liberty’s Brant Tolsma was named Coach of the Year for the men’s team and the Alan Connie took home the women’s Coach of the Year teams.  Johnson earned Freshman of the Year honors for the women while High Points’s Burkis was named Freshman of the Year for the year for the men. Liberty’s Ricksecker picked up Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors for the women and Edmonds notched Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the men.

2008 Runner of the Year (Men)
Sam Chelanga, Liberty

2008 Runner of the Year (Women)
Zsanett Kis, High Point

2008 Freshman of the Year (Men)
Anthony Berkis, High Point

2008 Freshman of theYear (Women)
Christian Johnson, Coastal Carolina

2008 Big South All-Conference Team (Men)
Sam Chelanga, Liberty
Jordan McDougal, Liberty
Jesse Cherry, High Point
Josh Edmonds, Liberty
Jamie McCarthy, Coastal Carolina
Dawit Legesse, Radford
Donnie Cowart, VMI
Ermin Mujezinovic, VMI
Anthony Burks, High Point
Jake Reed, Liberty

2008 All –Conference Team (Women)
Zsanett Kis, High Point
Rebekah Ricksecker, Liberty
Mia Wyszynski, Coastal Carolina
Maranie Staab, Coastal Carolina
Kali Burt, High Point
Hannah Granger, VMI
Christian Johnson, Coastal Carolina
Lori Crotts, Radford
Carey Phillips, Winthrop
Ashley Osborne, Liberty

2008 Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Men)
Josh Edmonds, Liberty

2008 Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Women)
Rebekah Ricksecker, Liberty

2008 Cross Country All-Academic Team (Women)
Rebekah Ricksecker, Liberty
Zsanett Kis, High Point
Carly Moss, Winthrop
Brittany Owens, Charleston Southern
Theresa Schamberger, Coastal Carolina
Lauren Bowers, Presbyterian
Beth Long, Gardner-Webb
Brittany Christian, Radford
Katherine Clark, UNC Asheville

2008 Cross Country All-Academic Team (Men)
Josh Edmonds, Liberty
Cole Atkins, High Point
Nick Abercrombie, Charleston Southern
Matt Satterwhite, VMI
Gaines Bailey, Winthrop
Nicholas Baer, Presbyterian
Andrew Burnette, UNC Asheville
Jamie McCarthy, Coastal Carolina
Joel Hanlon, Radford

Coach of the Year (Men)
Brant Tolsma, Liberty

Coach of the Year (Women)
Alan Connie, Coastal Carolina