Friday, July 08, 2011

MACON, Ga. – The River City dominted the cross country and track & field championships with UNF claiming their first cross country title while Jacksonville swept through the track and field conference crowns for the fifth-straight season.

With USC Upstate hosting the 2010 A-Sun Cross Country Championship, UNF took the women’s title – its first A-Sun – behind the performances of overall runner-up Shelby Kittrell and Ecaterina Gheorghiu, who finished seventh. Kennesaw State’s Mackenzie Howe earned top honors with a time of 17:22.78.

Behind the performance of Charlene Charles, the Championship Most Valuable Performer and the Most Outstanding Field Performer, Jacksonville cruised to their sixth-straight indoor crown with an impressive 219 points, which included nine event victories.

The outdoor track & field championship shifted to mid-April this season, but the change in date had no effect on JU as they successfully defended their 2010 crown. With the conference championship, JU has won every track & field championship since 2005.

Several men's and women's student-athletes represented the conference in postseason play this academic year including three at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June and 24 student-athletes for the NCAA East Preliminary Round. Following her win at the A-Sun Championship, Howe finished eighth at the NCAA Regionals earning her an at-large spot in the national cross country meet in Terre Haute, Ind.

On the academic front, all four sports increased its Academic All-Conference honors with women’s cross country leading the way with 79.14 percent of the student-athletes achieving a 3.0 GPA or higher.

From June 20-July 1, the A-Sun office will highlight each season of every conference sponsored sport: June 20th: Women's Soccer June 21st: Men's Soccer June 22nd: Volleyball June 23rd: Women's Basketball June 24th: Men's Basketball

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