Food Lion SAC Cross Country Championships To Be Decided Saturday

The 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's and women's cross country championship takes place Saturday at Salisbury Community Park in Salisbury, N.C.

The women's championship race will start at 9 a.m., with the men's championship race starting at 10 a.m.

The Mars Hill College men are the defending champions and are the top-ranked team in the Southeast Region. The Lions have won the conference championship for 10 consecutive years.

Dustin Whitlow has been the Lions' top runner this season. He finished third in the Winthrop Invitational and is a two-time All-Conference runner.

Lenoir-Rhyne College is ranked fourth in the region. The Bears recently were the top Division II team at The Citadel Invitational. Brad Popple, a sophomore from Iron Station, N.C., was the SAC Freshman of the Year last season and is having another strong year for the Bears. He was the top overall runner at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational on September 21 and was named Runner of the Week for his performance. Popple posted a time of 26:39.18 on the 8,000-meter course, which was the best in the meet featuring NCAA Division I programs Virginia Tech and Appalachian State.

Wingate is ranked seventh in the region and features one of the most dominant runners in the region. Jayce Watson has been named the SAC Runner of the Week for six out of the seven weeks. Watson, a 5-8, 135-pound junior from Millersport, Ohio, is coming off his second win of the year, capturing the Erskine Invitational title. Watson posted a time of 26:16 to win by over a minute, leading the Bulldogs to the overall team crown as well.

Other top men's runners include Tusculum College's Simon Holzapfel, a freshman who finished third overall at the Belmont Abbey Invitational; Lincoln Memorial University's Ted Johnson, who finished second in the Kings of the Mountain Top Classic and fifth in last year's conference meet; Newberry College's freshman duo of Devon Gillett and Kamron Johnston; Catawba College's Chris Haney, who finished ninth at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational; and Carson-Newman College's Jonathan Madden, who finished 13th in the Belmont Abbey Invitational

In the women's race, Mars Hill is the defending champion, and has won the title eight of the past 10 years.

Wingate enters the conference meet as the top-ranked SAC team in the region, currently second. Wingate is led by junior Amber Hines, the defending SAC Runner of the Year, and who has a pair of top-three finishes this year.

Lenoir-Rhyne enters as the region's third-ranked team. Junior Genna Eisenmann has been named Runner of the Week four times this year. She won the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational and was the top Division II runner at The Citadel Invitational.

Carson-Newman has won the conference title twice in the last five years. The Lady Eagles are led by junior Aubrey Morris, who was second in last year's conference meet and turned around and won the NCAA Region Meet two weeks later. She has been named Runner of the Week twice this season. She finished second at the Belmont Abbey Invitational with a season-best time of 18:14 as she led the Lady Eagles to the team title.

Mars Hill is led by senior Keely Hollahan, who finished fifth overall with a personal-best time of 19:22 at the Winthrop Invitational, helping to lead the Lions to a second place finish.

Lincoln Memorial advanced to the NCAA National Meet last season, and is looking to hit another late-season stride for a repeat trip. Senior Michelle Ratliff finished third at the Kings of the Mountain Top Classic.

Catawba's Maleah Cole earned All-Conference honors last season and has put together another strong season for the Indians. She finished third at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational.

Tusculum junior Alicja Dembna has been the Pioneers' top runner all season. She placed fourth at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational.

Newberry sophomore Taylor Hansen is coming off a top-10 finish at the Erskine Invitational.

Download printable directions to Salisbury Community Park here

Directions to the Salisbury Community Park can be found here