MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama sophomore cross country runners Andonet Cheruiyot and Warno Potgieter earned all-league accolades Saturday morning with strong performances at the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championships held at the Brookley Field Golf Course.

Cheruiyot finished less than four seconds behind Texas State's Leslie Romero with a time of 17:26.36 to place second and pick up first-team all-Sun Belt honors in the women's 5k, while Potgieter placed sixth and earned second-team honors in the men's 8k with a time of 25:06.13.

The Jag women scored 166 points to finish fifth behind SBC champion Appalachian State who edged out Texas State by one point (45-46). The South men placed seventh in the team competition with 131 points. UTA took home the program's fourth league title with 66 points.

Women's 5k Results
Men's 8k Results
Gallery

Date: 10/27
Meet: Sun Belt Championships
Host Institution: South Alabama
Place: Brookley Field Golf Course (Mobile, Ala.)

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS
WOMEN – 5K
1. Leslie Romero, Texas State (17:22.91); 2. Andonet Cheruiyot, SOUTH ALABAMA (17:26.36); 3. Annalle Charles, Arkansas State (17:31.11); 4. Phylissa Greeley, Appalachian State (17:35.08); 5. Izzy Everly, Appalachian State (17:46.32); 6. Kendra Long, Texas State (17:49.83); 7. Lisha Van Onselen, Coastal Carolina (17:50.83); 8. Pauline Meyer, Arkansas State (17:51.16); 9. Elisa Sargent, Appalachian State (17:51.48); 10. Devina Schneider, Texas State (17:55.36)

MEN – 8K
1. Nadeel Wildschutt, Coastal Carolina (24:05.71); 2. Adrian Wildschutt, Coastal Carolina (24:06.60); 3. Michale Guerrero, UTA (24:48.34); 4. Justin Domangue, UTA (24:48.38); 5. Joseph Meade, Texas State (25:00.98); 6. Warno Potgieter, SOUTH ALABAMA (25:06.13); 7. Hunter Baumann, Coastal Carolina (25:08.41); 8. Hannes Burger, Louisiana (25:08.46); 9. Dakota Mendenhall, Appalachian State (25:23.61); 10. Jared Lautenslager, UTA (25:32.53)

TEAM FINISHES
WOMEN – 5K
1. Appalachian State (45 pts); 2. Texas State (46 pts); 3. Arkansas State (86 pts); 4. Georgia State (143 pts); 5. SOUTH ALABAMA (166 pts); 6. Coastal Carolina (179 pts); 7. Troy (184 pts); 8. Little Rock (186 pts); 9. Georgia Southern (214 pts); 10. UTA (263 pts); 11. Louisiana (294 pts); 12. ULM (322 pts)

MEN – 8K
1. UTA (66 pts); 2. Appalachian State (76 pts); 3. Troy (90 pts); 4. Coastal Carolina (92 pts); 5. Texas State (104 pts); 6. Louisiana (131 (pts); 7. SOUTH ALABAMA (146 pts); 8. Arkansas State (187 pts); 9. ULM (244 pts); 10. Little Rock (283 pts)

SOUTH ALABAMA INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
WOMEN – 5K
2. Andonet Cheruiyot (17:26.36); 19. Carolien Millenaar (18:18.29); 25. Silje Lindstad (18:37.18); 58. Kailee Kiminski (20:05.62); 62. Shay Lee (20:19.59); 64. Gillianne Sharp (20:29.45); 72. Anna McGowan (22:05.04)

MEN – 8K
6. Warno Potgieter (25:06.13); 24. Migael Strydom (26:07.90); 29. Nate Pudner (26:23.79); 37. Thomas Sand Nielsen (26:37.40); 50. Dylan Pausic (27:24.67); 57. Larry Lombard (28:13.62)

NOTES
- Andonet Cheruoyot paced the Jaguar women for the fifth time in as many races this fall as she finished second with a new 5k personal-best time of 17:26.36 to earn first-team all-Sun Belt Conference honors. It was her second under 18 6k time this fall, the only two by a South Alabama female this season.
- With Cheruiyot's first-team all-conference honor, South Alabama has now had at least one female cross country runner finish among the top five at the league championship meet each of the last four seasons and six of the last seven.
- Cheruiyot has finished either first or second three times this season and 18th or better in every race.
- Silje Lindstad also set a new personal best with a time of 18:37.18. Her 25th-place finish marked the fourth top 30 performance for the Jag freshman this season.
- The meet marked the first for both Carolien Millenaar and Thomas Sand Nielsen since the Chile Pepper Festival on Sept. 22.
- In his first race back, Sand Nielsen set a new personal best mark in the 8k as he crossed the line with a time of 26:37.40.
- The all-conference honor for Warno Potgieter marked the second straight season the Jag sophomore has earned the honor, but the first second-team accolade.
- Potgieter has now led the Jaguar men in each of the last three races. His time of 25:06.13 was also the fastest 8k time this season by a South Alabama runner, trimming 30 seconds off the previous low mark.
- Potgieter also set a new 8k mark with his time of 25:06.13, which eclipsed his previous personal best by eight seconds.
- The 29th-place performance for Nate Pudner marked the third top 30 performance of the season for the sophomore.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Parker Cowles
- On his impressions of his teams' performances: "With the women, I was really happy with the way we performed. We've had a lot of little weird things happen over the course of the season to us that I think have kind of impacted our performance, but I feel the team competed really well today. Andonet Cheruiyot was lights out today. She ran a great race and really went for it putting it all out there.
"I thought the men's team was awesome. Warno Potgieter continues to get better each year and lead this program. Our depth is good and over the next few years, I want to see us continue to move up the field as we gain more experience. They competed well today."
- On the future of the program: "I think the future is pretty bright for us. We are very young. We had two sophomores lead our program today. Andonet has a few more years with us and she did something today that she can definitely build off of; she sets the tone for us. She and Carolien Millenaar both do that for us. We are also very young on the men's side as sophomores make up our top five for the most part. We want to continue to bring in talent, but the athletes we have now will continue to improve and get better."

UP NEXT
- South Alabama are scheduled to compete at the NCAA South Regional held in Tallahassee, Fla., at Apalachee Regional Park on Nov. 9.  The women's 6k is scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. (CT), while the men's 10k race will begin at 8:30 a.m. (CT).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Finish Line Club, the track and field and cross country specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  All donations to the Finish Line Club go directly to support the South Alabama track and field/cross country programs.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/finishlineclub

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