Charleston Southern Wins 2024 Big South Men's Cross Country Championship
CHARLESTON, S.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) –
Charleston Southern had four of the top seven finishers to win its fifth consecutive Big South Men’s Cross Country Championship Friday morning on the CSU campus. The Buccaneers finished with 36 team points and won by five over runner-up
High Point (41) for the third-smallest margin of victory in Championship history.
HPU’s
Hunter Steinau outkicked UNC Asheville’s
Adam Hessler by :00.9 to take home the individual crown on the 8K course -- the third-smallest individual margin of victory by a Big South Champion. Steinau, who finished fifth in last year’s Championship Meet, crossed the finish line in 24:05.9 to edge out Hessler (24:06.8) and become High Point’s first champion since
Jeff LaCoste in 2014 and fourth overall.
MEN'S RESULTS
UNC Asheville finished third with 58 points in the team standings, as Hessler and
Paul Kiprotich finished second and third, respectively. The Charleston Southern quartet of
Zach Mickler (fourth, 24:32.6),
Sam Waldin (fifth, 24:36.6),
Caleb Kenyon (sixth, 24:37.9) and
Martin Iriondo (seventh, 24:39.1) rounded out the top seven finishers for First-Team All-Big South honors.
Kiprotich received Freshman of the Year honors for his performance in the meet, while Mickler was recognized as the Big South Newcomer of the Year.
Steinau’s victory and Hessler’s effort cemented their fourth career All-Big South honor, becoming just the 17th and 18th runners in conference history with this distinction.
Following the race, Charleston Southern head coach
Jim Stintzi was voted the Big South Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the fifth time in seven years, while Radford’s
Liam McDonald was voted the Men’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league’s sports information directors. The final team results and standings along with this year’s honorees are listed below.
Final Team Results
1 – Charleston Southern (36)
2 – High Point (41)
3 – UNC Asheville (58)
4 – Radford (126)
5 – Longwood (145)
6 – USC Upstate (153)
7 – Winthrop (221)
8 – Gardner-Webb (224)
9 – Presbyterian (282)
Individual Champion
Hunter Steinau, High Point
Freshman of the Year
Paul Kiprotich, UNC Asheville
Newcomer of the Year
Zach Mickler, Charleston Southern
Coach of the Year
Jim Stintzi, Charleston Southern
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Liam McDonald, Radford
All-Conference (Top 14 Finishers)
First-Team
Hunter Steinau, High Point
Adam Hessler, UNC Asheville
Paul Kiprotich, UNC Asheville
Zach Mickler, Charleston Southern
Sam Waldin, Charleston Southern
Caleb Kenyon, Charleston Southern
Martin Iriondo, Charleston Southern
Second-Team
Gavin Stevens, High Point
Graham Ferguson, High Point
Jan Malek, UNC Asheville
Avery Crowell, High Point
Kyler Koning, High Point
Asrael Cabusoa, Radford
Christian Mariner, Charleston Southern
All-Academic Team
Christian Mariner, Charleston Southern, Jr.
Mark Mellon, Gardner-Webb, Sr.
Gavin Stevens, High Point, Soph.
Alec Daniel, Longwood, Sr.
Noah Kaufman, Presbyterian, Soph.
Liam McDonald, Radford, Jr.
Quinn Jacquez, UNC Asheville, Jr.
Sam Shimanskiy, USC Upstate, Jr.
Chadwick Sisson, Winthrop, Soph.