SAC Cross Country Titles to Be Decided Saturday
October 24, 2002

Courtesy Tusculum College Sports Information Office

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The third annual Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Fall Sports Festival gets underway this Saturday morning as all eight league colleges and universities will be in Greeneville competing in the men's and women's SAC Cross Country championships. The remainder of the Fall Festival will be held in two weeks (Nov. 8-10) as post-season championships will be decided in soccer and volleyball.

The SAC championships will be held on the campus of the Greene Valley Development Center for a third consecutive year. The men's race will begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by the women's championship at 10:15 a.m.

Mars Hill College will be looking for their sixth straight league title in both the men and women's championships.

Men's Championship
The Mars Hill Lions have been a running machine in 2002 winning five of their seven meets this season and finishing no worse than third. Six-time SAC Coach of the Year Mike Owens has his harriers at the top of the NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings. The Lions have three All-Conference runners back from a year ago, including Rocky Oakes, Tim Townsend and Ben Jackson.

The Carson-Newman Eagles will by vying to unseat the defending champions for first year head coach Whitney Lee. The Eagles are ranked third in the Region, led by 2001 All-SAC First Team runner Eric Malkowski. Malkowski finished second at last year's championship and will be joined by All-SAC Second Team performers James Spickard and Daniel Julian.

Wingate University is ranked sixth in this week's region poll. The Bulldogs have recorded three top 5 performances, including a second place finish at last week's Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. Junior Ryan Jones leads the Wingate charge after earning All-SAC Second Team recognition last season.

The Catawba College Indians are listed ninth in the region. The Tribe will be led by 2001 SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year Jesse Howes. Howes garnered All-SAC Second Team accolades in 2001. The top Catawba runner this season though has been rookie Ryan Willis. Willis is a four-time SAC Runner of the Week and has won two individual meets this season, including last week's Erskine Invitational.

Lenoir-Rhyne College will also be competing, led by junior All-SAC standout Adam Stewart. Host Tusculum College will field a competitive group of runners along with Newberry College and Presbyterian College.

Women's Championship
In the women's championship, this may be the year that someone knocks off Mars Hill. Looking to take on that task is the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles. Coach Lee has her squad atop the Region rankings as they battle to return to the NCAA National Championship. The Lady Eagles have won three of six meets and have yet to finish worse than fourth this season. C-N has a talented group of All-Conference runners in juniors Jessica Brown and Jennifer Sauceman and sophomore Tina Schowiak.

But Mars Hill hasn't stepped down from the SAC thrown yet. The Lady Lions still have 2001 SAC Runner of the Year Stacy Mark who won last year's event with a course record time of 19:49 on the 5,000-meter layout. Mars Hill is ranked third in the Southeast Region and have won two meets this season, including the North Carolina Intercollegiate two weeks ago.

Ranked eighth in this week's regional listing is Wingate. The Bulldogs have recorded four time 5 showings including second place efforts at the Catawba Invitational and the Wingate Invitational.

The Tusculum women's team has been a two-runner effort this year led by NCAA All-Region harriers Sue Lewis and Amanda Musick. Lewis is wrapping up her collegiate career and would want nothing more than to finish strong. She was the top Division II runner at the Western Carolina Invitational for a second straight year. Lewis is a two-time All-SAC runner and looks to return to the NCAA National Championship. Musick, the 2001 SAC Freshman Runner of the Year, is one of the runners to watch in the women's meet. She finished second at last season's conference and region races and will also be looking for a return trip to Nationals.

Senior Erin Coulter will lead her Lenoir-Rhyne team to Greeneville. Coulter was last week's SAC Runner of the Week finishing first at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. It was her second win of the season.

The SAC championships are free and open to the public. The South Atlantic Conference championship awards ceremonies will be held following the women's race.