Tusculum Cross Country to compete at Food Lion SAC Championship this Saturday

Posted: Oct 20, 2011

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College cross country team will be competing at the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championship, this Saturday morning at Panther Creek State Park in Morristown, Tenn.

The 5,000-meter women's race will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the 8,000-meter men's championship at 10 a.m. The awards ceremony will be held at the conclusion of the men's race.

Also competing at this year's championship are: Anderson University, Brevard College, Carson-Newman College, Catawba College, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Lincoln Memorial University, Mars Hill College, Newberry College and Wingate University.

Freshman David Cooper will lead the Tusculum men's team into this year's championship meet. The Greeneville, Tenn. native has been TC's top runner in all four meets this fall including his first place performance at the Maryville Invitational earlier this month. Cooper won with a time of 27:47 for the 16th fastest 8K time in school history. The Chuckey-Doak High School graduate also finished 11th at the Guilford Cross Country Festival and 19th at the Carson-Newman Challenge.

Knoxville, Tenn. freshman Kekona Soon has moved up the scoring ladder for the Pioneers as he has accounted for three top 40 finishes, including his 14th place showing at the Maryville meet. The Halls High School product has been one of the team's most consistent runners as his three 8K times this fall have been within a second of each other (Lenoir-Rhyne Inv. - 30:29.5; Carson-Newman Challenge - 30:28.5; Maryville Inv. - 30:28).

Rookie Zachary Simpson recorded his best finish of the year in his last meet at Maryville, placing 16th with a time of 31:11. The Clinton, Tenn. native has competed in three fall events, including a 23rd place finish at Guilford with a 5K time of 18:32.45.

Greeneville, Tenn. freshman George Blalock has tallied a pair of top-40 performances, finishing 36th at Guilford and 37th at Maryville. His best 8K time of the season came in his last month's Carson-Newman meet at Panther Creek where the Greenville High School alum finished in 33:46.04.

Sophomore Elijah Minter (Spring City, Tenn.) has competed in all four meets this fall, while junior Elvis Machado (Taylorsville, Utah) has participated in three events. Minter finished 32nd at Guilford and tallied a 42nd place showing at Maryville with a time of 36:31. Like Blalock, Minter returns to the Panther Creek course, where accounted for his fastest 8K time of the year as he finished 47th at the Carson-Newman Challenge with 32:09.74. Machado's best finish of 2011 came at the Guilford meet where he placed 27th.

On the women's side, team captain Jenny Grant has once again proven to be Tusculum's most consistent competitor. She has finished in the top-30 in two of her four meets, including a 17th place finish at the Maryville Invitational. Grant, a junior from Franklin, Tenn., finished 26th at the Guilford meet and followed with her best 5K time of the year at Lenoir-Rhyne at 23:13.3 to finish 49th. At last month's Carson-Newman Challenge, the 2010 Tusculum Most Valuable Runner finished 33rd with a time of 23:44.77. Grant was TC's top performer at the 2010 SAC Championship where she finished 44th with a time of 22:43.

Freshman Lakesa Hendrix has enjoyed a solid rookie campaign. The Hendersonville, Tenn. native emerged as Tusculum's top runner earlier this month at the Maryville Invitational, where she finished 14th with a 6K time of 29:51. Hendrix, a graduate of Station Camp High School, has competed in all four events this fall, with her fastest 5K time coming at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational, with a time of 24:12.9. She finished 34th at Guilford and 39th at Carson-Newman.

Junior Kim Brown is splitting duty once again this fall with the TC cross country and women's soccer teams. The Scarborough, Ontario, Canada native has competed in three meets, including her 22nd-place finish at Maryville. She also finished 41st at Guilford (27:17.62) and 49th in her previous visit to Panther Creek at the C-N Challenge (25:16.69). At last year's SAC Championship, Brown finished 54th with a time of 23:36.

Parrottsville, Tenn. freshman Ashley Gregg has run in all four meets this year and finished 31st at Maryville with a time of 33:55 (6K). The Cocke County High School graduate has also finished 37th at Guilford (26:14.36) and 48th at the C-N Challenge (25:09.46). Her fastest 5K competitive time has been 24:54.8 at the L-R Invitational.

Sophomore Ashley Andrukonis (Greeneville, Tenn.) has competed in all four meets, including her 5K-best time of 28:27 at the L-R Invitational. The South Greene High School graduate posted a time of 28:31.02 at the C-N Challenge in her last visit to Panther Creek. At last year's SAC Championship, Andrukonis finished with a time of 24:39 (65th).

Rookies Carol Hogan and Lizzie Kaster have competed this fall for the Pioneers. Kaster (Lexington, Va.) ran at the Guilford Cross Country Festival, while Hogan (Pelham, Ala.) competed in three races, including her 37th-place running at Maryville.

Mars Hill has won the last 14 men's championships, while Anderson is the defending women's champion, winning the title in the Trojans' first season as a SAC member.

Complete championship results will be posted on www.TusculumPioneers.com and at the SAC Championship web site at: http://thesac.com/article.asp?articleID=2722.

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