CSU Women Win First-Ever Cross-Country Region Championship

Wingate, NC - Columbus State's women's cross-country team set out to accomplish something it never had on Saturday at the NCAA Southeast Regional hosted by Wingate University.

Mission accomplished.
The Columbus State women got top-ten finishes from Naomi Tanui, Brittany Skiles, and Kelli Arnold to win the school's first-ever region championship in the sport. 
Tanui, fresh off an individual title at the Peach Belt Conference Championship two weeks ago, finished third overall to pace the Cougars. Tanui covered the 6K course in 22:50, 15 seconds behind individual champion Kate Griewisch of Lenoir-Rhyne. Whitney Bishoff of Anderson was second at 22:42. Bot of those runners qualified for the national meet as individuals. 
Brittney Skiles continued her strong year, finishing fourth at 23:28, while freshman Kelli Arnold came in ninth position at 24:07. Older sister Ashley Arnold finished just outside the top 10 in 11th position at 24:14. Tiara Brown was the fifth scoring runner for CSU, earning 42 points and finishing in 43rd place at 25:43. Moneka English finished right behind Brown at 25:46. Hope Ard rounded out the CSU team, finishing in 107th position at 28:04.
CSU collected 68 points and defeated Queens for the title by just one point. Lees-McRae was third at 104, GCSU fourth at 171, and Augusta State fifth at 190. In all, the Peach Belt Conference placed five teams in the top 10 of the meet (1 - CSU, 4 - GCSU, 5 - Augusta State, 6 - Montevallo, and 9 - Clayton State). In all, 23 teams competed for the title.
Tanui, Skiles, and both Arnold sisters (Kelli and Ashley) earned All-Region honors by virtue of their finishes on Saturday, giving CSU its most-ever representation on the All-Region squad. 
The team will compete on November 21 at the Division II Cross-Country Championships hosted by the University of Southern Indiana. This will be the first-ever appearance in the national finals for a CSU women's team. Related Item: Box Score