GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College cross country team will host the 2012 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championship this Saturday morning on the Greeneville campus.

The 8,000-meter men's championship will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the 5,000-meter women's championship at 10:15 a.m. The start/finish line is located on the southeast corner of the campus at the upper practice soccer field. Parking for teams and fans will be located near the start/finish line, as well as the Tusculum Indoor Practice Facility. Admission to the championship is free.

All 10 conference schools will be participating in this year's event. Mars Hill College will be vying for its 16th consecutive men's title, while Anderson University will be looking to capture its third straight women's championship.

This will mark the fifth time Tusculum has hosted the SAC Championship (2000, 2001, 2002, 2005), but it will mark the first time the conference meet has been conducted on the Greeneville campus. The course promises to be a good test for the runners as it will traverse throughout the outer edges of Tennessee's oldest college campus (1794), including the Niswonger Sports Complex and the historic Doak House.

Three of the men's teams competing are ranked in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division II Southeast Region Poll. Mars Hill is ranked third for a second straight week, while Wingate University is sixth and Lenoir-Rhyne University is seventh. In the USTFCCCA women's poll, Wingate is listed fifth and Lenoir-Rhyne sixth in the most recent Southeast Region rankings.

Host Tusculum has enjoyed a successful 2012 campaign under third-year head coach Suzanne Byrd.

The TC men's team has won two of its last three events, while the women's squad has posted three straight top-four finishes at the end of the regular season.

The men's team is led by two-time South Atlantic Conference Runner of the Week David Cooper. The Greeneville, Tenn. sophomore has finished fourth or better in his last four meets, including first place honors at the Warren Wilson Invitational and the Maryville Invitational. Cooper finished 21st at last year's SAC Championship, earning him a spot on the SAC All-Freshman Team. The Chuckey-Doak High School graduate is also a 4.0 honor student and was a Preseason All-Conference Second Team selection.

Freshman Lawson Burrow has enjoyed a fine rookie campaign this fall. The Chuckey-Doak HS alum has recorded three top-10 finishes, including runner-up honors in his last event at Maryville. He also finished third at the Warren Wilson Invitational and recorded a season-best time of 28:01 at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational where he finished 12th.

Sophomore Zachary Simpson (Clinton, Tenn./Clinton HS) has made tremendous strides from a season ago and has finished 13th or better in three events, including a fifth place showing at Warren Wilson. He also posted a season-best time of 29:40 at the Carson-Newman Challenge, host site of last year's SAC Championship, trimming over three minutes off his time from a year ago.

Sophomore Kekona Soon (Knoxville, Tenn./Halls HS) has recorded four top-25 finishes in his second Tusculum season, including ninth at the Warren Wilson Invitational. Soon finished 11th at Maryville and recorded a collegiate-best time of 29:28 at Lenoir-Rhyne.

Senior Elijah Minter is wrapping up his collegiate running career as the Spring City, Tenn. product has competed in all six events this fall, including three finishes in the top-30. Minter placed 13th at the Warren Wilson meet, 15th at Maryville and 29th at Carson-Newman.

Greeneville sophomore George Blalock has competed in four events this year so far, including a 23rd place finish at Warren Wilson. The Greeneville High School graduate also finished 34th at The Citadel Invitational.

On the women's side, a talented pair of rookies has paced the Pioneers this season in Maggie Bernabei and Paige Bible.

Bernabei, a native of Crossville, Tenn., has been Tusculum's top performer in three of its six events this fall. The Cumberland County High School product has finished in the top-20 in her last five meets, including third place honors at the Warren Wilson Invitational and a fifth place finish at Maryville. She has posted a season-best 5K time of 21:31 on two occasions at The Citadel Invitational, where she finished 15th and at Lenoir-Rhyne to place 17th.

Bible, a local standout who ran at Greeneville HS, emerged as TC's top runner in three events as well. She finished runner-up at the Warren Wilson meet, 15th at the Carson-Newman Challenge and 35th at the Eye Opener Festival in Spartanburg, S.C. At the Carson-Newman meet, Bible posted a season-best time of 21:59.

Senior Jenny Grant is capping a solid running career with the Pioneers as she has posted three top-20 finishes in her last three events entering the SAC Championship. The Franklin, Tenn. native (Battle Ground Academy) finished sixth at Warren Wilson and posted an 11th place finish at the Maryville Invitational in her last race. Her 5K time of 22:22 at The Citadel was a season-best. This will be Grant's third SAC Championship she has competed in, including last year's 54th place in the SAC meet held in Morristown, Tenn. Grant is a 4.0 honor student and was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team last season.

Sophomore Ashley Gregg has competed in all six fall meets, including the Warren Wilson event where she finish 13th. Her time of 23:14 at The Citadel Invitational was a collegiate best for the Parrottsville, Tenn. native (Cocke County HS) as she will be competing in her second SAC Championship.

Greeneville freshman Allison Hall has been solid in her first Tusculum campaign as the Greeneville HS alum has accounted for a pair of top-20 finishes, including 15th at Warren Wilson and 17th at Maryville. Hall's season-best time of 23:14 came at The Citadel meet.

Senior Kim Brown (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada), who is also a starter on the Tusculum women's soccer team, will be putting a closing chapter on her collegiate running career. Brown has finished in the top-30 in three of her four events this year and will be running in her third SAC Championship. She finished 22nd at both Warren Wilson and Maryville, along with a 30th-place performance at The Citadel Invitational.

Sophomores Lakesa Hendrix (Hendersonville, Tenn./Station Camp HS) and Carol Hogan (Pelham, Ala./Indian Springs HS) will each be running in their second SAC Championships. Hendrix has participated in all six meets this fall, including her 14th place showing at Warren Wilson and finished 35th at The Citadel. Hogan has competed in five events this year, including her 20th-place showing at Warren Wilson.

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