HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.- Freshman Felix Kitur led the VMI men's cross country to a fifth-place finish at the Big South Championships on Saturday morning at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, N.C. and hosted by UNC Asheville.

The Keydets edged out Coastal Carolina by eight points (110-118), while finishing just ten points behind Radford (100). Liberty took the team title with the race's top three individual finishers, placing ahead of High Point in second and Winthrop in third. Senior Josh McDougal collected his fourth consecutive individual title, crossing the line at 24:11.

Kitur (Eldoret, Kenya) was the Keydets' top finisher on the 8K course with a time of 27:10, good enough for 18th place, while a tight pack of Keydets accounted for the team's next three scores. Junior Andrew Rademaker (Fork Union, Va.) placed 21st with a time of 27:21, while freshman Ermin Mujezinovic (Herndon, Va.) placed 22nd with a 27:22 and senior Ben Switzer (Rockbridge Baths, Va.) came in 23rd with a 27:28 clocking, while also being named to the Big South's All-Academic Team. Rounding out the scoring was senior Kurt Able (Wesley Chapel, Fla.), who placed 26th overall, crossing the line at 27:35.

"For our men, our goal was to finish fourth, and we fell ten points shy of that," said VMI head coach Paul Spangler. "We had some guys that ran well, Ben Switzer and Andrew Rademaker in particular ran really good races for us. In the preseason polls, we were picked sixth, so that's one good side of it. But we would like to have been fourth today. We beat Coastal Carolina, who was the runner-up last season, and I think that just shows that the Conference is really growing as a whole."

Also competing for the Keydets were junior Jared Klajnbart (Colorado Springs, Colo.), placing 28th with a 27:40, sophomore Matt Sagar (Alexandria, Va.), placing 29th with a 27:50, senior Kevin Sullivan (Nokesville, Va.) placing 30th with a 27:53, sophomore Matt Satterwhite (Charlottesville, Va.) placing 34th with a 28:17 and freshman Geophery Mills (Chesapeake, Va.) placing 44th overall with a 28:49.

The men's team will return to action on Saturday, November 10, as they compete at the NCAA Regionals in Louisville, Ky.