Virginia Union and Winston-Salem State Capture 2015 CIAA XC Championships

Women's Overall Results | Women's Team Results | Men's Overall Results | Men's Team Results

CARY, North Carolina -- The Virginia Union men and the Winston-Salem State women both won handily to claim team titles at the CIAA Cross Country Championships, which was held at WakeMed Soccer Park on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015.

Led by five top eight finishers, the Panthers scored 24 points to gain their second straight men's championship. They won by 71 points over Virginia State, which placed second with 95 points. Bowie State took third place with 136 points.

After finishing second by one point last year, Winston-Salem State bounced back to win their third women's crown by 67 points. The Rams placed five runners in the top 10 to score 33 points. Johnson C. Smith was second with 100 points and Lincoln (Pa.) placed third with 110 points.

Luis Nieves led the way for the Panthers, nudging Immanuel Hutchinson of Saint Augustine's at the finish line to win the men's individual crown in a thrilling 8K race. His winning time of 26:11 was a hundredth of a second faster than Hutchinson, who captured second in 26.12.

Michael Aregay of Bowie State was third, and a trio of Virginia State runners took the next three spots to solidify the team title for the Panthers. Frank Charles was fourth, Arthur Casey placed fifth and Emmanuel Nelfard finished sixth. Linda Moise placed eighth to cap a successful meet for the Panthers.

Domtila Kiplagat of Winston-Salem State dominated the women's 5K race, finishing ahead of the next runner by nearly a minute to win the title. She was the only competitor to run under 20 minutes (19:09). Jazmina Paris-Morris of Shaw was second in 20:06 and Daniaria Brice of Virginia Union placed third in 20:20.

The women's race was decided between spots five through 11. Phyllis Cheruiyot of Winston-Salem State was fifth and teammates Tametris Morrison, Raven Hamilton, Danisha Wiggins and Micalyne Zimmerman were eight, ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively.

Multiple runners from Virginia Union and Winston-Salem State made the All-CIAA Men's and Women's Teams, which are comprised of the top 10 runners in each race. The men's all-conference squad consists of Nieves, Charles, Casey, Nelfard and Moise of the Panthers in addition to Hutchinson of Saint Augustine's, Aregay of Bowie State, Antonio Washington of Livingstone, David Guwani of Bowie State and Dayquan Chapman of Shaw.

The Rams' quintet of Kiplagat, Cheruiyot, Morrison, Hamilton and Wiggins head the All-CIAA women's team. The other selections were Paris-Morris of Shaw, Brice of Virginia Union, Doreen Richardson of Fayetteville State, Domenique Julius-Williams of Johnson C. Smith and Merideth Alexander of Shaw. The CIAA Coaches of the Year were Inez Turner of Winston-Salem State (women) and Wilbert D. Johnson of Virginia Union (men).

PHOTO GALLERY

COURTESY CIAA MEDIA RELATIONS