Elon, N.C. - Senior Brendan Kight led the men's Bulldog cross country team to a ninth place finish at the 2009 Southern Conference Championships in Elon, N.C. on Saturday morning. The men's team tallied 218 points while the women's team collected 357 points for 12th place.

The Citadel men improved from last season as the first Bulldog runner came in at 52nd place in 2008. This year, Kight finished the 8k course first for the Bulldogs at 37th with a time of 26:49. Freshman Kyle Keene followed a couple seconds later when he ran 26:51 for 39th place. John Gatewood placed 46th recording a time of 27:07 while Atom Young rounded out the top 50 for The Citadel as he placed 50th with a time of 27:13.

The women finished with a disappointing 12th place. Senior Katheryn Gatewood led the women as she finished the 5k run at 60th with a time of 20:11. Senior Natalie Wolin came in next posting a time of 20:43 for 72nd place and Suzanne Gay finished 91st with a time of 21:36. Coming in at 96th was Sarah Stierwalt recording a time of 22:01 and Micah Wessinger ran a time of 23:51 for 98th place. Sophia Bay and Caitlyn Lees finished 99th and 100th, respectively. Bay ran 24:05 and Lees posted a time of 25:01.

Appalachian State's men's team took the crown totaling 44 points while Samford's women's team earned the title with 74 points.

"I was glad to see such a major improvement for our men's team this year," said head coach Jody Huddleston. "The freshmen really stepped up. I was excited about that. It's going to be hard to replace such a talented athlete like Brendan (Kight) but we are looking towards the future."

For more information on Bulldog Cross Country, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.