University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Big South
Bulldogs Take 5th & 6th in Big South Cross Country Meet
10.31.2009 | Cross Country
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - UNC Asheville freshman Melanie Kulesz earned All-Conference honors with a 10th place finish at the Big South Conference Meet held at the Shady Oaks Course Saturday morning.
Kulesz's performance helped the Bulldog women's team finished in sixth place with 148 points.
On the men's side, Asheville finished in fifth place with 133 points. The Bulldogs didn't have anybody earn all-conference honors but had two runners finish in the top 17. Eliud Chirchir came in 13th, while sophomore Sam Maynard came in 17th.
"We had a solid day," commented Bulldog coach Jesse Norman. "We improved our point total from a year ago and continue to make progress. Both of our teams are pretty young and are only going to get better."
Kulesz finished in 10th place over the 5K course with a time of 19:18. She was followed by another Bulldog freshman Clair Powell in 26th place (20:07).
Sophomore Emma Bussard took 33rd (20:26), while freshman Alyska Kalmaijer finished 37th (20:47). Rachel Ambrosia finished 42nd (21:09). Kylie Smith came in 46th (21:31) and Erin Putnam was right behind her at 21:32. Mackenzie Wheaton (21:42) and Katie Olert (22:18) rounded out Asheville's runners on Saturday. Olert was also named to the Big South All-Academic team.
Chirchir took 15th with a time of 26:49 over the 8K course. Maynard finished 17th at 27:07.
Kent Rankin was 23rd (27:23), while Jay Barringer had a big race for the Bulldogs with a 30th finish (27:47). Adam Vick took 48th (29:51) and Adam Schnapp was right behind him in 49th (29:53). Freshman Chris Murray rounded out the Bulldog runners with a time of 31:35.
Players Mentioned
