A pair of Coastal Carolina athletes claim titles over the weekend

Coastal Carolina senior Malene Krolboll Hansen of Denmark earned her second career individual victory on Sunday, claiming the Ladies Fall Invitational title when the final round was canceled due to inclement weather and unplayable conditions.

Hansen’s two-round total of even-par 144 in challenging weather conditions gave her a two-stroke victory over Henriette Nielsen of Kennesaw State at storied Atlanta Athletic Club. The Chants finished seventh in the 13-team field 35-over 611. Kennesaw State and host Louisville tied for the team title at 20-over 596.

Hansen also won the Golfweek Conference Challenge last fall at Red Sky Golf Club in Colorado and continues to lay claim to being one of the top women’s golfers in CCU history.

Her two rounds of even-par 72 give her a total of 44 rounds of par or better during her 35 career events. She has 11 top-10 finishes and 24 top-20 finishes.

The third round was started Sunday and the Chants had moved up four spots into third place when play was halted. No other CCU individual finished inside the top 25.

The event concluded the CCU women’s fall schedule. The team returns to action Feb. 9-11 at Florida State’s Seminole Golf Club.

Another XC title

For the second consecutive year, a CCU runner won a Sun Belt Conference cross country title.

Freshman Nadeel Wildschutt of Ceres, South Africa, continued his torrid stretch of running with a win Saturday in a time of 24:44.3 in the conference championships at the State Farm Fields-Kennedy Trails in Boone, N.C.

Wildschutt has now won four consecutive races, and he is just the second Chanticleer to win a men’s cross country individual title, joining Terah Kipchiris, who won back-to-back Big South Conference titles in 2002 and 2003.

The Chants nearly got a sweep of the individual titles as junior Lisha van Onselen, who is also South African, placed second in the women’s race in a time of 17:38.5 to be named the Sun Belt Women’s Cross Country Newcomer of the Year.

Annie Bothma of South Africa won the conference’s women’s cross country title last season as a redshirt freshman but she missed the Sun Belt meet this year with an injury.

The CCU men’s and women’s team each finished seventh in the conference meet. Host Appalachian State won the men’s title and Texas State the women’s crown.

The CCU cross country team will next compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional on Nov. 10 in Earlysville, Va.

Volleyball in first

The CCU volleyball team claimed sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt East Division on Sunday with a three-set sweep of South Alabama (25-21, 25-14, 25-21) at the HTC Center in its final home match of the season.

The win closed out the home careers of seniors Leah Hardeman, Kate Federico, Dora Lulic, Larissa Dos Santos and Leah Levert. Hardeman, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year, was the only player to reach double figures in kills with 15 and added nine digs, and Sydney Alvis had 17 of Coastal’s 48 digs to lead all players.

CCU ends it regular season with four road matches, including at South Alabama in Mobile, Ala., on Nov. 10.

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 4:13 PM with the headline "A pair of Coastal Carolina athletes claim titles over the weekend."