The App State men’s cross country team secured back-to-back Sun Belt Conference Championships at the Sun Belt Cross Country Championships in Foley, Alabama, on Friday. 

Coming into the Conference Championships, the Mountaineers had won two of their four events, winning the Covered Bridge Open, and the Firetower Project Run. They finished 19th at the Joe Piane Invitational, and 8th at the Panorama Farms Invitational, while the Mountaineer Feud was canceled due to Hurricane Helene. 

Leading the Mountaineers was junior Ethan Lipham. His time of 24:40.60 netted him a fourth place finishing spot, and scored four points for the team. 

Next up was redshirt junior Chase Burrell who ran a 24:47.20, finishing in the fifth spot, and scoring five points. Burrell would be named the Sun Belt Men’s Cross Country Elite Award winner.

Redshirt senior Calbert Guest finished with a time of 24:55.20, scoring six points with a sixth place finish. 

Seventh and eighth positions were taken by freshmen Henry Stark, and Thomas Wlazlowski. Stark ended Friday with a time of 24:56.40, and Wlazlowski a 24:56.90. For his performance, Stark was named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of The Year. 

In the tenth spot was graduate student Ethan Turner finishing with a time of 25:02.10. Turner solidified that six of the top 10 finishers were Mountaineers. 

Freshmen Rowan Gwin and Aaron Kidd also competed for the Mountaineers. Gwin took 38th, and Kidd took 48th. 

The Mountaineers finished the day in first place with 30 points, 16 ahead of runner up Arkansas State. The Mountaineers had a total time of 2:04:16.30, and an average of 24:51.26.

Six Mountaineers were given all-conference honors. Lipham and Burrell were first team All-Sun Belt, while Guest, Turner, Stark, and Wlazlowski were named second team All-Sun Belt. 

The Mountaineers will compete in the NCAA Southeast Cross Country Regionals, in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The event will be hosted by Winthrop University and will take place on Nov. 15.