BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Cumberlands (Ky.) won its sixth straight Mid-South Conference Women’s Cross Country Championship today at Phil Moore Park.

The title is the Patriots' conference-best 17th title in the program's history.

Seven Cumberlands harriers finished in the top 10 en route to producing a team score of 22 points in the 6,000-meter race.

Cumberland (Tenn.) finished second with a team total of 65 points, and Georgetown (Ky.) grabbed third place with 71 points. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) ended in third place with 82 points, followed by Campbellsville's (Ky.) 118 points, Bethel's (Tenn.) 129 points, and Lindsey Wilson's (Ky.) 143 points.

Cumberlands earns the Mid-South Conference's automatic bid into the NAIA National Championships with today's win. The national championship is scheduled for November 21 in Tallahassee, Florida.

Cumberlands' Lea Kunstmann captured the individual title, finishing in 22 minutes and 23.59 seconds. With her finish, Kunstmann earns first-team all-conference, MSC Runner of the Year, and MSC Freshman Runner of the Year.

Freed-Hardeman's Eliza Poe earned runner-up honors after finishing the course in 22:51.16. She joins Kunstmann on the all-conference first team.

The top seven finishers earn first-team all-conference honors, with the next seven earning second-team honors.

Joining Kunstmann and Poe on the all-conference team are Cumberlands' Patrober Jepchirchir, Brynn Poulson, Elisa Helferich, and Tigist Bergman, and Freed-Hardeman's Mary Pearce.

The second team includes Cumberlands' Heather Durrant, Anslee Crosby, Chloe West, Clayra Darnell, and Hope Boa, Georgetown's Elizabeth Lavinder, and Cumberland's Sarah Wilkerson.

In addition to the Cumberlands team, Poe, Pearce, Lavinder, and Wilkerson all earn bids to the national championships as the first four runners not on the winning team and in the top 15.

Following the race, Freed-Hardeman's J Hall was selected by his peers as the Mid-South Conference Women's Cross Country Head Coach of the Year. The honor is his first cross country coach of the year award.

Cumberlands' James Overholser was voted by the head coaches as the MSC Women's Cross Country Assistant Coach of the Year. The honor is his second.

First Team:

Name	School
Tigist Bergman	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Elisa Helferich	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Patrober Jepchirchir	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Lea Kunstmann	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Mary Pearce	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Eliza Poe	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Brynn Poulson	Cumberlands (Ky.)

 

Second Team:

Name	School
Hope Boa	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Anslee Crosby	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Clayra Darnell	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Heather Durrant	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Elizabeth Lavinder	Georgetown (Ky.)
Chloe West	Cumberlands (Ky.)
Sarah Wilkerson	Cumberland (Tenn.)