ELON, N.C. -- Appalachian State University men's cross country won its fifth-straight Southern Conference championship on Saturday, scoring 44 points to easily outdistance second-place Davidson (82 points) and Elon (83 points).

Senior Phil Mitchell was the top Mountaineer finisher, coming in 16 seconds behind overall winner Emmanuel Kirwa from Chattanooga with a time of 25:16.38. Sophomore Sean Soderman (25:25.99) and Senior Alec Meyer (25:29.33) claimed all-Socon honors as well, finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Senior Josh Houser also took home all-conference honors, finishing 10th with a time of 25:43.29 to give Appalachian an impressive four runners in the top-10.

Other top finishers for the Mountaineers include senior Bud Galloway (25:59.27), who narrowly missed all-conference recognition with a 17th place finish, freshman Burk Staub (26:04.83, 19th overall), and freshman Brian Graves (26:17.58, 23rd overall) to take home all-freshman honors.

Sophomore Mason Campbell placed 31st with a time of (26:34.31), and junior Mike Walker came in 45th at 27:06.66.

Saturday's win marks the fifth-consecutive conference championship for the Mountaineers and eighth in the last 10 years. For his efforts, head coach Mike Curcio was named SoCon Coach of the Year for the eighth time.