SPARTANBURG,  S.C. – With four runners claiming top-12 finishes, UNF emerged with the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Cross Country title, winning with with 55 points, 18 ahead of runner-up Lipscomb. Kennesaw State’s senior Mackenzie Howe captured the closest individual race in conference history, winning in a time of 17:22.78 - just 1.4 seconds ahead of UNF’s Shelby Kittrell.

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Howe, who took second to Belmont’s Brittany Thune in each of the previous two A-Sun Championships, passed Kittrell in the closing sprint to earn the Runner of the Year honor. In addition, she achieved All-Atlantic Sun honors for the fourth time of her career joining current Owls assistant coach Erin Sutton as the only two in program history with that distinction. The winning margin broke the Championship record for closing finish, just ahead of two three-second splits in 1985 and 1999. Joane Pierre from Jacksonville earned third-place honors with her time of 17:51.91 just ahead of Joan Tangwar from the host school, USC Upstate, in 17:54.50.

For UNF, the cross country championship title represents the third conference crown for the Ospreys since they joined the league in 2005 accompanying titles in women’s tennis in 2010 and men’s golf in 2008. Ecaterina Gheorghiu and Erin Nixon joined Kittrell in the top ten finishing seventh and tenth, respectively, while Meggie Emons rounded out UNF all-conference representation, taking 12th.

The Lady Bisons placed four runners in the top 20 to post the best finish in program history, displacing a fourth-place finish in 2008. Lipscomb’s Dani Walker crossed the finish line in fourth place to earn the Freshman of the Year award as well as achieve the best individual finish at an A-Sun meet in program history.

Defending champions, Jacksonville took third place behind the performance of Pierre and fellow all-conference member senior Susasnne Klungveit, who placed sixth for the Dolphins. Tang war and the host Spartans trailed Jacksonville for fourth place with three all-conference members with Caroline Chelulei (ninth) and Jemeli Sang (14th) joining Tangwar. Belmont rounded out the top five, finishing only two points behind USC Upstate behind the performance of Nicole Muldowney’s eighth-place finish.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts five of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.