ROCK HILL, S.C. — Coastal Carolina University's women's cross country team captured the Big South Conference championship on Saturday in dominating fashion at the Winthrop Lake Course. The Lady Chanticleers, led by five runners placing in the top-10, posted 36 points to outdistance their nearest opposition Liberty by 20 points.

Junior Kara Koppel led Coastal Carolina with a fourth place finish with a personal best time of 17:53 in the 5,000-meter event. Freshman Kim Nemergut placed sixth with a time of 17:58, becoming just the sixth runner in Coastal Carolina history to run under 18 minutes in a 5,000-meter event. Other Coastal finishers in the top-10 were Lindsey Kozlowski (7th, 18:34), Robyn Ritter (9th, 18:52), and Natasha Elliott (10th, 18:53). With their top-10 finishes, each of these Lady Chanticleers earned Big South All-Conference honors.

Liberty's Heather Sagan defended her individual championship with a winning time of 17:38.

In the men's race, Winthrop captured the title with 29 points, while Coastal Carolina placed seventh with 52 points. Senior Campbell Claridge earned his fourth consecutive Big South All-Conference honor by placing fourth with a time of 25:37 in the 8,000-meter race.

Koppel, who owns a perfect 4.0 grade point average, also earned the Big South's top academic award in cross country as she was selected the Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the sport. Michael Killoran made it a clean sweep of the Scholar Athlete honor as he brought home the award on the men's side. The Scholar Athlete Award is voted on by the League's Sports Information Directors.

Coastal Carolina's women's Head Coach Alan Connie earned his seventh Big South Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year honor. This is his 11th Coach of the Year honor overall as he has won the same honor four times in track and field.