Eagles women 5th, men 6th at Big South cross country meet

From staff reports

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Winthrop's women finished fifth and Winthrop's men finished sixth in the 2009 Big South Conference Championships held at the Shady Oaks course Saturday.

Liberty's men's and women's teams captured the team championships. The Flames' Samuel Chelanga finished first in the men's 8-kilometer race to take home Runner of the Year honors. The Lady Flames won the 6-kilometer women's race. VMI's Hannah Granger finished first in a time of 18:25 to take home Runner of the Year honors.

Winthrop's women were led by Brooke Spencer, who earned All-Big South honors by finishing ninth with a time of 19:16. Lady Eagles junior Carly Moss was voted the 2009 Big South Scholar-Athlete.

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The Lady Eagles totaled 117 points. Liberty posted 47 points to take the title, followed by VMI (66), Coastal Carolina (76), and High Point in f(86). In sixth was UNC Asheville (148), followed by Radford (172); Gardner-Webb (225) and Charleston Southern (262).

Winthrop, which did not have anyone finish in the top 10, totaled 150 points. Liberty posted 33 points to nip second-place High Point (46 ), Coastal Carolina took third (59), followed by VMI (107) in fourth and UNC Asheville (133) in fifth. Charleston Southern (199) was seventh, followed by Gardner-Webb (225) and Radford (247).

Winthrop sophomore Adam Freudenthal, a business administration major, was named to the 2009 Big South All-Academic Team.

MEN

2009 Runner of the Year — Sam Chelanga, Liberty

2009 Freshman of theYear — Jacob Smith, High Point

Coach of the Year — Brant Tolsma, Liberty

2009 Scholar-Athlete of the Year — Jason Wenzel, Gardner-Webb

2009 Big South All-Conference Team

Sam Chelanga, Liberty; Evans Kiegan, Liberty; Josh Morgan, High Point; Jaime McCarthy, Coastal Carolina; Kyle Kling, Coastal Carolina; Max Hacker, Coastal Carolina; Neal Darmody, High Point; David Ricksecker, Liberty; Jacob Smith, High Point; Jake Reed, Liberty

2009 Cross Country All-Academic Team

Jason Wenzel, Gardner-Webb; Josh Morgan, High Point; Kyle Kling, Coastal Carolina; Mark Hopely, Liberty; Adam Freudenthal, Winthrop; Matt Satterwhite, VMI; Andrew King, Charleston Southern; Nicholas Baer, Presbyterian; Nathan Turner, Radford.

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WOMEN

2009 Runner of the Year — Hannah Granger, VMI

2009 Freshman of theYear — Jenna Moye, VMI

Coach of the Year — Paul Spangler, VMI

2009 Big South All-Conference Team

Hannah Granger, VMI; Dacia Bushman, Liberty; Jennifer Klugh, Liberty; Jenna Moye, VMI; Lori Crotts, Radford; Shelby Donahue, Coastal Carolina; Janel Reeves, Coastal Carolina; Emily Webb, High Point; Brooke Spencer, Winthrop; Melanie Kulesz, UNC Asheville

2009 Scholar-Athlete of the Year — Carly Moss, Winthrop

2009 Cross Country All-Academic Team

Carly Moss, Winthrop; Theresea Schamberger, Coastal Carolina; Brittany Christian, Radford; Katie Olert, UNC Asheville; Tracy Epley, Jr. Charleston Southern; Joya Canfield, High Point; Dacia Bushman, Liberty; Laura Scott, Gardner-Webb; Hannah Granger, VMI; Mellette Johnson, Presbyterian

MEN'S SOCCER — The Winthrop men's soccer team suffered its second straight loss and first in league play after falling 3-0 on the road to Liberty on Saturday.

It's the worst loss in conference play since the 2003 season when the Eagles lost 4-0 to Coastal Carolina and the worst back-to-back losses since 2003 as Winthrop (10-4-2, 4-1-2 Big South) lost 5-2 to UNC Greensboro and then suffered the setback against Coastal. It's also the first time since 2000 in which Winthrop has been shutout in back-to-back games.

The Flames took the 1-0 lead in the eighth minute after they were awarded a free kick straight on from about 50 yards out. Juan Guzman took the free kick and placed it to the side of the net perfectly on the head of Chris Mandell, who headed the ball straight across the goal to the far post and Greg White was wide open for the one touch shot into the back of the net. Libertook a 2-0 lead in the 28th minutewhen Chris Osborne scored his first goal of the year. Osborne drilled a long ball from about 35 yards out that happen to go on frame and beat Winthrop keeper Enrique Miranda over his head.