University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Big South Conference Championships
Cross Country Prepares for Big South Championships
10.31.2024 | Cross Country
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville cross country team will compete in Charleston, South Carolina, for the Big South Championships held at Charleston Southern this Friday, Nov. 1.
"Both of our teams have the ability and opportunity to have great races and be within the top of the Big South Conference," Head Coach Adam Puett said. "To place high at these championships, we will have to compete hard for each other to take advantage of the talent that we have on our teams."
MEET INFORMATION
Women's 5k - 9:00 a.m.Men's 8k - 9:45 a.m.
Award Ceremony - 10:30 a.m.
Course Description: The course begins on fields behind the Athletic Performance Center and continues through the woods in a loop behind Nielsen Field at the CSU Ballpark. The women will complete two big loops (5k), and the men will complete one small loop and three big loops (8k).
To view live results for both races, click here.
CHAMPIONSHIP REWIND
At last year's championship, Charleston Southern won the event for the men with 21 points, and High Point won on the women's side with 35 points. This marked the eighth consecutive victory for High Point's women's team.
The UNC Asheville men's team finished runner-up with 56 points, and Puett was named Coach of the Year for the men. On the women's side, the ladies finished fourth with 92 points.
Women's Lineup:
Fr. Nikole BaikovaSo. Zoe Bos
Fr. Addi Corl
Sr. Alison Graf
Fr. Lily Kelpin
Fr. Aneta Kucerová
Jr. Sophie Lundin
So. Ella Moore
So. Isabel Richardson
Sr. Madeline Wittschen
Men's Lineup:
Sr. Adam HesslerJr. Quinn Jacquez
Fr. Paul Kiprotich
So. Jan Málek
Sr. Andrew Okon
So. Jonas Roach
Fr. Logan Russo
So. Tadiyos Sloan-Westmoreland
So. Nate Sullivan
LAST TIME OUT
Asheville had an impressive showing at the Upstate Invite (Oct. 19), with a record-breaking run from Paul Kiprotich and a third-place finish from the women's team highlighting the event. Kiprotich broke the previous record by 14 seconds (24:36.4) to finish third with a personal best of 24:22.5. Adam Hessler also secured a top-five finish, posting a time of 24:23.8 to finish fourth.
On the women's side, Aneta Kucerová led the Bulldogs by securing a fourth-place finish with her personal best time of 17:57.5. Kucerová was the fastest freshman to cross the line. Isabel Richardson clocked a time of 18:17.9 to finish 17th and was closely followed by Addi Corl, who recorded a personal best of 18:21.4 to finish 19th, putting three Bulldogs in the top 20.
WEEKLY HONORS
Both Kiprotich and Kucerová's performances at the Upstate Invite earned them Big South Freshman of the Week honors, announced on Oct. 23. This was the Bulldogs second sweep of the freshman weekly honors, with Kiprotich and Addi Corl taking the title on Sept. 18 following the Furman Invitational (Sept. 14). At Furman, Kiprotich was the fastest freshman of the field, finishing in 11th-place (18:20.5, 6k) and Corl secured a personal best time of 23:17.7 (6k) to finish highest for a Big South freshman in the women's race.
The Bulldogs are the only team in the Big South to have swept the freshmen weekly honors since the award was introduced in 2021.
Senior Adam Hessler earned Big South Men's Runner of the Week after finishing in eighth at the Furman Invitational, setting a new personal record of 18:08.5 to lead the Bulldogs to their third-place finish overall. This marked his fourth runner-of-the-week honor.
SEASON RECAP
The Bulldogs opened their season at the Covered Bridge Open (Aug. 30), with the women finishing sixth and the men finishing seventh on the day. The women led the field of Big South competitors, scoring higher than High Point, Winthrop, and USC Upstate. After the event, the men's team matched their pre-season ranking of No.15 in the USTFCCCA Southeast Region.
The next stop for the Bulldogs was the Furman Invitational (Sept. 14), with Asheville totaling an impressive 19 personal bests over the six-kilometer course. The men's team finished third, and the women finished fourth.
The team then stayed local, with both the men and women finishing runner-up at the Brevard XC Classic (Sept. 21). After being unable to compete due to Helene, the Bulldogs returned to the course nearly a month later for the Upstate Invite. The championships will be Asheville's second race back following Helene.
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Players Mentioned
