Oct. 31, 2009

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Gilbert Kemboi led a group of four Spartan cross country runners to postseason awards thanks to strong performances earlier today at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships. In the championship event earlier today, the men's team finished tied for third, while the women's team finished fourth in the 11-team championship event.

Gilbert Kemboi was named A-Sun Freshman of the Year thanks to a second-place time of 25:36. He was just five seconds behind race winner Ken Rotich of ETSU. Aside from his Freshman of the Year award, Kemboi was placed on the All-Conference First Team as well as the All-Freshman team.

Joining Kemboi on the All-Freshman team was Christian Ritacco. Ritacco finished 15th-overall in Saturday's championship event after posting a time of 26:53. His time was just two seconds ahead of teammate David Dennison.

On the women's side, Jemeli Sang and Carolyne Chelulei were selected to the All-Conference teams. Sang was named to the first team after a fifth-place finish with a time of 18:06. Meanwhile, Chelulei was named to the second team after her ninth-place finish. The Eldoret, Kenya, native recorded a time of 18:16 on Saturday.

The complete list of postseason A-Sun awards and All-Conference teams can be found below.

Men's Postseason Awards


First Team All-Conference
Name (School)
Ken Rotich (ETSU)
Gilbert Kemboi (USC Upstate)
Nabil Hamid (Kennesaw State)
Ryan Chastain (Lipscomb)
Jaakko Nieminen (Kennesaw State)
Ben Ronoh (ETSU)
Jordan Anderson (Belmont)


Second Team All-Conference
Name (School)
Nathan Haskins (Kennesaw State)
J Penny (ETSU)
Will Pearce (UNF)
Scott Burley (Kennesaw State)
Dolohnni Nicol-Samuel (Campbell)
Piotr Witzack (Kennesaw State)
Jacob Law (Mercer)


Runner of the Year:
Ken Rotich (ETSU)


All-Freshman Team
Name (School)
Gilbert Kemboi (USC Upstate)
Nabil Hamid (Kennesaw State)
Dolohnni Nicol-Samuel (Campbell)
Jacob Law (Mercer)
Christian Ritacco (USC Upstate)


Freshman of the Year:
Gilbert Kemboi (USC Upstate)



Women's Postseason Awards


First Team All-Conference
Name (School)
Brittany Thune (Belmont)
Sara McKenzie Howe (Kennesaw State)
Elisabeth Goshu (Jacksonville)
Shelby Kittrell (UNF)
Jemeli Sang (USC Upstate)
Erin Sutton (Kennesaw State)
Anastasia Fokina (Jacksonville)


Second Team All-Conference
Name (School)
Britany Reilly (Kennesaw State)
Carolyne Chelulei (USC Upstate)
Joane Pierre (Jacksonville)
Alison Ritter (Jacksonville)
Susanne Klungtveit (Jacksonville)
Kacie Niemann (Mercer)
Kelli Midden (Jacksonville)


Runner of the Year:
Brittany Thune (Belmont)


All-Freshman Team
Name (School)
Shelby Kittrell (UNF)
Joane Pierre (Jacksonville)
Kacie Niemann (Mercer)
Meggie Emons (UNF)
Melanie Novak (UNF)


Freshman of the Year:
Shelby Kittrell (UNF)