CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern's top-two finishers earned first and second place, leading the way for the Bucs to claim the team crown by a point at the season-opening CSU Buccaneer XC Invitational Friday morning at the CSU Cross Country Course. The program welcomed six other in-state opponents and had a field of 48 total runners in the 4K race.

TAKING GOLD
Keerstin Augustin claimed the individual crown by crossing the finish line in 14:55.1, edging out teammate Anne Akagi's 14:58.4. The duo set the pace throughout and held off a challenge from College of Charleston's top performer, Sophia Brown.

From the starting gun, Augustin controlled the pace with an average mile of 6:00.1, just over a second faster than Akagi's 6:01.4.

A THIRD IN THE TOP-FIVE SCORERS
Providing CSU with another high scorer was Sarah McCartney, who registered five points with a sixth-place time of 15:39.1. She averaged 6:17.8 per mile.

NEXT PAIR JUST OUTSIDE OF THE TOP 10
The next-two scorers for the Buccaneers were Sarah Jacobs and Taylar White, finishing 12^th and 14^th, respectively, while scoring 11 and 13 points. Jacobs clocked a time of 16:20.0 (average 6:34.2), while White finished her first collegiate race in 17:07.5 (average 6:53.3).

ALSO FINISHING
The final runner across the line wearing blue and gold was Emma James, who placed 18^th and scored 16 points. She tallied a time of 20:24.4 for an average mile of 8:12.5.

BUCS TAKE FIRST
The balanced team performance put Charleston Southern on top of the team leaderboard with 32 points, edging out the 33 accumulated by College of Charleston. The two Lowcountry schools separated themselves from the rest of the pack.

UP NEXT
The Bucs return to action in two weeks when they travel to Cary, North Carolina, Sept. 16, for the adidas XC Challenge, a meet play hosted by North Carolina State.

TEAM RESULTS
1. Charleston Southern, 32 points
2. College of Charleston, 33
3. The Citadel, 82
4. Newberry, 117
5. South Carolina State, 138
6. USC Beaufort, 153
7. Allen, 186

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN RESULTS
1. Keerstin Augustin, 14:55.1 (1 point)
2. Anne Akagi, 14:58.4 (2)
6. Sarah McCartney, 15:39.1 (5)
12. Sarah Jacobs, 16:20.0 (11)
14. Taylar White, 17:07.5 (13)
18. Emma James, 20:24.4 (16)

TOP-10 RESULTS
1. Keerstin Augustin, Charleston Southern, 14:55.1
2. Anne Akagi, Charleston Southern, 14:58.4
3. Sophia Brown, College of Charleston, 15:00.4
4. Heidi Fortin, The Citadel, 15:24.0
5. Zanelle Willemse, Unattached, 15:25.9
6. Sarah McCartney, Charleston Southern, 15:39.1
7. Hannah Wise, College of Charleston, 15:42.9
8. Shannon Smith, College of Charleston, 15:45.1
9. Cayden Crismon, College of Charleston, 15:50.0
10. Rhian Purves, College of Charleston, 15:59.4