Coastal Carolina Set For First Sun Belt Championships
10/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field/Cross Country
CONWAY - Coastal Carolina's cross country teams travel to Dothan, Ala., for their debut in the 2016 Sun Belt Cross Country Championships Saturday (Oct. 29). The cross country programs can become the first of the Coastal teams to win a first Sun Belt title in all sports.
The 5k race women's race will take place at 10:00 a.m. CT, while the men's 8k will follow directly at 11:00 CT at Trojan Oaks, the home course for Troy University. South Alabama is the women's defending champion, and UT Arlington is the men defending champion.
" We are very excited to compete in our first Sun Belt Championship and, on the women's side, we expect to challenge for the team title," said head coach Jeff Jacobs. "Our top three (Annie Bothma, Aynslee van Graan, and Kyla van Graan) should be among the top five individuals overall based on the regular season results. They are so competitive and each has had great performances in big races in the past. I feel confident they will lead the way for us."
Two-time Sun Belt Runner of the Week and redshirt freshman Annie Bothma, one of the individual favorites, will look to lead the team to its first Sun Belt championship. Junior Aynslee van Graan, a Sun Belt Runner of the Week honoree this fall, is hoping to continue in the best season of her career with a strong performance.
Kyla van Graan, a senior, is another Chanticleer to keep an eye out for thanks to her experiences in big races throughout her career.
"If those three finish where we expect then the key to our success as a team will be the finishes of our fourth and fifth runners if they can place somewhere in the top 15-20 we have a good shot at winning," Jacobs stated. "It should be a great three team race for the title between the defending champ South Alabama, Appalachian State and the Chants."
Freshman Alyssa LeClaire, junior Alesia Mucklebust, junior Rachel Byrd, and sophomore Kayla Tracy will be aiming to propel the CCU team.
A young Chanticleer men's team will be hoping to build to the future.
"On the men's side, Hutson Baumann has done a great job leading the way. He should be in the mix for an All-Conference finish," Jacobs said. "As a team we are looking to be competitive in our first year in the Sun Belt and gain championship racing experience for the future. We still have a very young team with only one senior in the lineup."
Sophomores Hutson Baumann, Josh Small, and Riaz Tyler along with freshman Dillon McConnell will be the core of this team for the next couple of years. Also in the mix for this championship is senior Charles Bascom and junior Elijah Shaw for some experience.
