GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The second 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. 2-4) as post-season championships will be decided in soccer, volleyball and competitions in men and women's golf.

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

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

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

Women's Championship

The women's title will be highly contested with Mars Hill, Carson-Newman and host Tusculum being some of the top challengers. Mars Hill is the top ranked team in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region and is in quest of a return trip to the NCAA Nationals.

The Lady Lions are led by All-SAC runners Stacy Mark, Mitzi Carr and Becca Pizzi. MHC has won four of the six meets they have competed in this season, including last month's Tusculum/Greene Valley Invitational held on the same 5,000-meter course as this weekend's SAC Championship.

Carson-Newman is third in the Southeast Region and is led by All-Conference harriers Nikki Kehn, Jennifer Sauceman and Jessica Brown. Like Mars Hill, the Lady Eagles will also be in search of going back to the NCAA National meet. C-N rookie Tina Schowiak has been a pleasant surprise on the year, posting a season best time of 23:56.

One of the big surprises in the league has been the improvement of the Tusculum College women's team. The Pioneers are ranked sixth in the region and have to SAC Runner of the Year candidates in junior Sue Lewis and rookie Amanda Musick. Lewis, a 2000 All-SAC runner, has not finished lower than third in her five races, including a first place win at the Western Carolina Invitational. Musick has accounted for three wins this year, including the Creeper Trail Invitational, Tusculum/Greene Valley Invitational and the Land of the Sky Invitational. She also holds the course record for the Greene Valley course with a time of 20:03 last month.

The Lenoir-Rhyne College is ranked seventh regionally, while Presbyterian College is 10th in the Southeast. The Bears are led by Erin Coulter, Melissa Buff and Amy Bloom. But the Blue Hose boast last year's SAC Runner and Freshman of the Year in Tanith Forrester. PC will also have the services of All-Conference selection Katie Lenhart. PC opened the season with three second place finishes.

Men's Championship

In the men's championship race, the Carson-Newman Eagles will be vying to unseat defending champion Mars Hill. The Eagles are ranked fourth in the region, led by freshman Eric Malkowski. At last month's Tusculum/Greene Valley Invitational, C-N was the top league team finishing second on the 8,000-meter course.

But Mars Hill hasn't stepped off the SAC throne yet. Ranked fifth in the region, the Lions have not finished worse than third in their six outings and have won two events. SAC Coach of the Year Mike Owens returns All-SAC runners Ben Jackson and Brendan Crim from last year.

Newberry College is ranked seventh in the NCAA Southeast and will be paced by All-SAC senior Brandon Downey. Downey finished third at last year's championship and is on track to challenge for SAC Runner of the Year accolades.

Ninth in the region is Catawba College led by 2000 SAC Freshman of the Year Jesse Howes. The Indians finished second at the 2000 Championship as Howes, a NCAA II national qualifier, finished second individually.

The Wingate University Bulldogs are 10th regionally as they return All-SAC harrier Ryan Jones.