University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Big South Conference Championship
Cross Country Readies for Big South Cross Country Championships
10.30.2025 | Cross Country
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville cross country teams will compete in Farmville, Virginia, for the Big South Championships held at the Longwood golf course this Friday, Oct. 31.
MEET INFORMATION
Men's 8k - 9:00 a.m.Women's 5k - 9:45 a.m.
Award Ceremony - 10:45 a.m.
The top 14 individual finishers will receive All-Conference honors, with the top seven earning First-Team distinctions and the remaining seven earning Second-Team distinctions.
To view live results for both races, click here.
To view the course maps, click here.
CHAMPIONSHIP REWIND
Asheville finished third on the men's side with 58 points and fourth on the women's side with 126 points at last year's championships. Charleston Southern won the event with 36 points for the men, and High Point won with 22 points on the women's side.
Three Bulldogs earned All-Conference honors on the men's side. In a tight sprint finish, now graduated senior Adam Hessler took second place in a new school record time of 24:06.8. Jan Málek crossed the line in 24:46.4 to take a 10th-place finish, earning a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. For the first time in 25 years, the Bulldogs also took home the Big South Freshman of the Year accolade.
Aneta Kucerová set the pace on the women's side, finishing in 19th place at 18:19.5. Ella Moore ran a season's best of 18:25.7 to come in 21st. Alison Graf set a personal best of 18:54.6 to take 31st place.
Men's Lineup:Felix Bett
Yates Hockaday
Sam Hulsey
Quinn Jacquez
Jan Málek
Bennett Moreno
Asher Roach
Jonas Roach
Lance Surles
Tadiyos Sloan-Westmoreland
Women's Lineup:
Nikole Baikova
Addi Corl
Marika Dickel
Alison Graf
Aneta Kucerová
Sophie Lundin
Ella Moore
Payton Murphy
Isabel Richardson
Grace Thompson
LAST TIME OUT
The Bulldogs wrapped up their regular season at the Upstate Invite on Oct. 18, finishing third (women) and fifth (men).
Jan Málek led the pack on the men's side, securing a season's best of 24:59 to take 19th place. Tadiyos Sloan-Westmoreland and Quinn Jacquez crossed the finish line back-to-back, taking 30th (25:18) and 31st (25:24) respectively.
Isabel Richardson led the women, locking a top-ten finish (eighth) in 18:04. Richardson was closely followed by Alison Graf, who took 11th-place in 18:07. Marika Dickel was next across the line in 20th (18:25).
Asheville earned three personal bests and four season bests at the Invite.
WEEKLY HONORS
Jan Málek earned his first Big South Runner of the Week accolade this season, following his season-opening victory at the Duel in the Valley meet (Sept. 3). Málek outsprinted the competition to lock down the men's 6k in 18:56.
Marika Dickel earned Big South Freshman of the Week honors twice this season. Dickel was first announced Freshman of the Week on Sept. 17 after her performance at the Furman Invitational (Sept. 13), where she was the fastest Big South freshman to finish and helped the Bulldogs to a third-place finish overall. She placed 26th (24:18) in the four-mile race.
Dickel then earned Co-Freshman of the Week honors on Oct. 8 after recording a time of 18:07 at the Swags Louisville Cross Country Classic (Oct. 4). Dickel placed 76th overall in the 5k race and scored for the Bulldogs as Asheville's fourth-fastest finisher.
SEASON RECAP
The Bulldogs opened their season with the Duel in the Valley meet against Western Carolina University (Aug. 29). Asheville was victorious in both sections, with Jan Málek and Aneta Kucerová taking individual victories in the men's 6k and women's 3k event.
Asheville then traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, for the Furman Invitational (Sept. 13), where the women finished third and the men finished fifth on the same four-mile course. Alison Graf was Asheville's top finisher on the women's side, clocking a time of 23:43 to take 20th place. Quinn Jacquez led the charge in the men's section, finishing in 24th with 19:57.
The next stop for the Bulldogs was the Swags Louisville Cross Country Classic (Oct. 4), where Asheville's women secured a ninth-place finish and the men took 29th place. Alison Graf led the women's team in the 5k race, with her personal best performance of 17:44 to place 44th overall. The Classic marked the first time in school history that Asheville has put three women under 18 minutes in a 5k race. Jan Málek led the men's 8k race to place 83rd in 25:08. Personal bests came from Tadiyos Sloan-Westmoreland (159th, 25:41) and Lance Surles (220th, 26:18).
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Players Mentioned
