SAC Cross Country Championship Set for Saturday
The 2013-14 SAC Championship season officially gets underway on Saturday, as student-athletes from all 12 member institutions will compete at the Food Lion SAC Cross Country Championship in Black Mountain, N.C.
BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. – The 2013-14 SAC Championship season officially gets underway on Saturday, as student-athletes from all 12 member institutions will compete at the Food Lion SAC Cross Country Championship in Black Mountain, N.C.
The women's 5K race will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the men's 8K at 10 a.m. Both races will take place at Montreat College's Black Mountain campus.
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In the women's championship, Lenoir-Rhyne will be looking to defend last year's SAC title, which was the program's third since 2008. The Bears are ranked ninth in the latest USTFCCCA Southeast Region poll.
Among the competitors in the women's race will be reigning SAC Runner of the Year Keeley Wood of Wingate, who captured last season's individual title with a time of 19.27. Behind Wood, Wingate has won team championships at four events in 2013 and is currently the top-ranked program in the USTFCCCA Southeast Region poll.
Also earning spots in the most recent USTFCCCA Southeast Region rankings are Queens at No. 7 and Anderson at No. 10.
On the men's side, Mars Hill will attempt to continue its dominance of SAC cross country, as the Lions have won a record 16-straight conference titles. MHU enters the championship ranked No. 5 in the Southeast Region by the USTFCCCA.
Mars Hill is joined in the USTFCCCA Southeast Region rankings by No. 9 Lenoir-Rhyne, which finished third at the 2012 SAC Championship.
Wingate's Steve Hammond will look to become just the fourth multiple-time SAC Male Runner of the Year in conference history on Saturday after winning last year's individual title in a time of 26.26.
SAC men's programs have won a pair of team championships this season, with Catawba capturing September's Catawba Invitational and Lincoln Memorial finishing first at the recent Tiger Twilight Invitational.
Complete SAC Championship results will be available at theSAC.com shortly after the completion of Saturday's races. Live updates from the championship will also appear on the conference's official Twitter page.