Harvin, Owens Pace Bucs At Big South Championships

Brittany Owens finished first among CSU female runners in every race in 2007.

Cornelius Harvin and Brittany Owens were the top runners for Charleston Southern at the Big South Conference Championships presented by UCS, which took place Saturday at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, N.C.

The women began the day's proceedings with a 5K race, and Owens would prove to be the first runner in blue and gold to finish, as the sophomore crossed the line with a time of 20:14, good enough for 43rd place. Chelsea Colon (21:52.6), Aundraya Camp (22:10.4), Alicyne Smith (22:16.6), Niclaudia Ross (23:25.6), Octavia Best (23:43.6) and Rachel Moss (25:46.0) also ran on the day for the Bucs.

Liberty won the women's competition, as The Lady Flames finished with 36 points, followed by Coastal Carolina with 39 and High Point with 68. Coastal Carolina’s Diana Jepchirchir took the top spot in the women’s 5K, finishing in a time of 17:07.2 to pick up Runner of the Year honors.

On the men's side, Harvin picked up his first first-place finish among CSU runners in 2007, as he finished with a time of 29:02.5. Andrew King, who had been the fastest CSU runner in previous races, finished second among Bucs at 29:38.0. Other male runners Saturday were Ross Kaiser (30:27.8), Ronald Hunter (30:51.4) and Jonathan Falco (31:13.4).

Liberty also won the men's competition, posting 27 points. The Flames’ Josh McDougal picked up his fourth-straight League Championship and became one of just 10 NCAA runners to win four-straight Conference championships. For his efforts he was tabbed the Runner of the Year for the men.