WHEELING, W.Va.—University of Charleston Men's and Women's Cross Country cruise to first place finishes to secure both Mountain East Conference Championship Titles. This is the sixth straight conference title for the men and the third straight for the women. 

Women's Cross Country started the tournament off strong for the Golden Eagles, as they soared to a first place finish in the 6k with a total of 34 points. Charleston had a total of six top 20 finishes with sophomore Julie Lafare crossing the finish line first with a time of 23:01.81, which set a new course record! Lily Dowdell , Madison Woolwine and Mercy Jepleting finished in the top ten with Dowdell finishing in third, Woolwine finishing in eighth and Jepleting finishing in ninth place. 

Men's Cross Country won the 8k with a score of 20 to successfully close out the meet for Charleston. Like Lafare, Freshman George Couttie raced to a first place finish and set a new course record with a time of 25:35.84. Zane "Iggy" Chalker finished in second place behind Couttie with a time of 26:11.91, while Matthys Bourse finished in fourth and Corey Schobelock and Sam Idiens finished in sixth and seventh place. The men had six top 20 finishers with five of them finishing in the top ten. 

Thanks to their performance in at the conference championship, the Golden Eagles collected a lot of hardware with six female athletes and six male athletes receiving All-MEC honors. George Couttie was awarded Athlete and Freshman of the Year, while Sophomore Julie Lafare was awarded athlete of the year. Head Coach Nick Bias was also named Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year for both the men and the women, which is his tenth Coach of the Year award in just five years. 

Women 6k:
1 — Julie Lafare — 23:01.81 (CR)

3 — Lily Dowdell —23:52.73 

8 — Madison Woolwine — 24:31.15 

9 — Mercy Jepleting — 24:32.35

13 — Jeanne Corroy —25:32.04

14 — Lia Markert — 25:45.59

23 — Patricia Alonso Munoz — 26:35.20 

Men 8k:
1 — George Couttie —25:35.84

2 — Zane Chalker — 26:11.91

4 —Matthys Bourse — 26:26.65

6 — Corey Shobelock — 26:32.70

7 — Samuel Idiens —     26:38.63

18 — Warren Thiel — 27:25.59

23 — Jules Geoffrey-Remot — 27:48.31
 

First Team All-MEC - Women

Julie LaFare (UC) - MEC Runner of the Year

Lily Dowdell (UC)

Madison Woolwine (UC)

Mercy Jepleting (UC)
 

Second Team All-MEC - Women

Jeanne Corroy (UC)

Lia Market (UC)
 

First Team All-MEC - Men

George Couttie (UC) - Athlete & Freshman of the Year

Zane Chalker (UC)

Matthys Bourse (UC)

Corey Schobelock (UC)

Samuel Idiens (UC)

Second Team All-MEC

Warren Thiel (UC)