Tanui Blitzes 6K Course to Lead CSU to Fifth Consecutive PBC Title

Pembroke, NC -- Many around the Peach Belt Conference wondered, heading into Saturday's PBC Cross-Country Championships presented by GEICO, if this would be the year another team pried loose the grip Columbus State had on the women's title.

The answer was an emphatic NO.

The women, led by a blistering 6K time of 22:26 from Naomi Tanui, placed four runners in the top 10 to easily win their fifth straight crown. The streak is the most since former PBC member Kennesaw State won seven consecutive championships from 1994-2000.

Tanui set an early fast pace in the overcast and humid conditions and had more than a 20-second lead halfway through before winning at the line by 35 seconds over teammate and PBC Runner of the Year Brittany Skiles. Skiles ran 23:01, three seconds ahead of Clayton State's Chelsea Ellis in third. Tanui is CSU's second PBC individual champion, joining Isabel Speer who won the event in 2007.

CSU's Kelli Arnold was fourth in 23:23 while Clayton State's Courtney Aylor was fifth and Montevallo's Haley Evans sixth. With her finish, Arnold earned PBC Freshman of the Year honors.

CSU collected 37 points to earn the championship. The five titles in a row is the second-longest streak in PBC history behind Kennesaw State, who won seven PBC Championships from 1994-99. The Lady Cougars won the race by 50 points, the largest margin of any of their five titles. GCSU finished second with 87 points with four of their five scoring runners finishing between 10th and 20th. Virginia Balcom led the Lady Bobcats with a 10th place finish and a time of 24:19. The second-place finish is the best-ever for GCSU.

Montevallo, making their first appearance in the PBC race since joining the conference for this season, finished third with 91 points, holding off fourth-place Clayton State by one point. Augusta State finished fifth with North Georgia coming in sixth.

 The top seven women's finishers were named first-team All-Conference while the second seven were named to the second team. The PBC Freshman of the Year was the fastest true freshman in the field.

2009 Women's Cross Country All-Conference Team

First Team:

Naomi Tanui, Columbus State

Brittany Skiles, Columbus State

Chelsea Ellis, Clayton State

Kelli Arnold, Columbus State

Kourtney Aylor, Clayton State

Haley Evans, Montevallo

Holly Keeper, Augusta State

Second Team

Ashley Arnold, Columbus State

Ginny Davis, Montevallo

Virginia Balcom, GCSU

Nicole Maitland, USC Aiken

Kathryn Vance, North Georgia

Kaley Glover, Montevallo

Annette Sem, UNC Pembroke

Freshman of the Year: Kelli Arnold, Columbus State

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