ELON, N.C. - College of Charleston's cross country teams competed in the 2009 Southern Conference Championship on Saturday morning. The men's team posted an eighth-place finish in the 8k race while the women finished ninth in the 5k run.

Junior Trevor Sprague and sophomore Eric Robertson  paced the Cougars on the men's side, finishing 27th and 28th respectively. Sprague's time of 26:26.96 beat his time in last year's conference championships by almost half a minute while Robertson recorded a personal-best time of 26:27.19.

The Appalachian State men's squad claimed its fourth consecutive league championship with 83 points. Charleston maintained a slim lead on its crosstown rivals, beating The Citadel Bulldogs by 15 points with a team score of 203.

On the women's side, sophomore Kristen Wolfe ran the fastest time for the Cougars, finishing the 5k race in 19:24.11 for 29th place. Junior Erin Stoddard finished second on the team with a 50th-place time of 19:59.06 while just three spots behind her, senior Emily Nagle (Annapolis, Md./Richmond) ran a career-best time of 20:01.67. Nagle shaved a second off her previous best, set at USC Upstate in the Eye Opener last year.

Samford narrowly escaped with the title, collecting a team score of 74 points while Elon finished close on the Bulldogs' heels with 75 points. CofC tallied 254 team points.

The Southern Conference Championship closes the Cougars' 2009 season.

Women:
29. Kristen Wolfe - 19:24.11
50. Erin Stoddard - 19:59.06
53. Emily Nagle - 20:01.67
58. Becky Stewart - 20:07.25
76. Callen Powers - 20:48.65
89. Kristin Jenkins - 21:18.11

Men:
27. Trevor Sprague - 26:26.96
28. Eric Robertson - 26:27.19
38. Christian Bailey - 26:50.62
47. Kelly Toomes - 27:09.50
73. Alex Hill - 28:14.83
76. David Lamberson - 28:24.03
80. David Thomas - 28:53.75
83. Timothy Faugl - 29:24.86
86. Manning Miller - 30:45.93

Team (Women):
1. Samford - 74 points
2. Elon - 75 points
3. Appalachian State - 83 points
4. Furman - 93 points
5. Davidson - 110 points
6. Chattanooga - 134 points
7. UNC Greensboro - 138 points
8. Western Carolina - 168 points
9. College of Charleston - 254 points
10. Wofford - 289 points
11. Georgia Southern - 319 points
12. The Citadel l- 357 points

Team (Men):
1. Appalachian State - 44 points
2. Davidson - 82 points
3. UNC Greensboro - 83 points
4. Chattanooga - 109 points
5. Elon - 134 points
6. Furman - 146 points
7. Western Carolina - 158 points
8. College of Charleston - 203 points
9. The Citadel - 218 points
10. Samford - 261 points
11. Wofford - 276 points