KERNERSVILLE - Ed Carney brought home champion honors in the men's 8K, with Kelvin Kibet and Antony Kigen each taking top-ten finishes to help lead the Braves to their fourth-straight Conference Carolinas championship, while Malea Bennewitz took fifth in the women's 6K race Friday afternoon at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex.

Carney was named Runner of the Year and Freshman of the Year as he crossed with a time of 25:45.74, with Kelvin Kibet taking fourth at 25:48.41, and Antony Kigen finishing sixth with a time of 25:59.12. Ryan Ibarra was 15th at 26:18.45, with Conrad Robertson right behind in 16th with a time of 26:27.29.

Carney (1st Team), Kibet (1st Team), Kigen (1st Team), Ibarra (3rd Team), and Robertson (3rd Team) were all named to the All-Conference Team, and Dr. Peter Ormsby was named Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year, marking the fourth time he has earned Coach of the Year honors. The championship is just the second time in Conference Carolinas men's cross country history a team has won at least four consecutive titles, joining Mount Olive, who won eight straight championships from 2012-19.

Payden Lewis (27:16.07) was 31st, with Daniel Mejias (27:32.86) taking 37th, and Will Clancey (28:32.34) finishing 62nd. Jacob Jones crossed in 30:48.61 to take 113th, with JP Marquez finishing 118th with a time of 31:31.84 to round out the men's side.

Bennewitz crossed in a personal-best time of 23:27.54, while Sofia Skidmore logged a personal-best 23:57.62 to take 12th.

Bennewitz (1st Team) and Skidmore (2nd Team) were both named to the All-Conference team.

Jana Termos (personal-best 25:04.01) took 26th, Devyn Soles (29:43.27) was 83rd, Lizzy Laurine (30:21.05) finished 88th, while LaNiya Harris (34:22.59) took 104th to round out the women's side.

The men's squad scored 42 team points to take the championship, while the women tallied 195 points to take eighth.

The Braves will now turn their attention to the NCAA Southeast Regional races on Saturday, November 8. The event will be hosted by Wingate at the Wingate XC Facility.