GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College cross country teams will be competing at the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Championship this Saturday morning in Pineville, Kentucky. The league championship will be held at the Wasioto Winds Golf Course and hosted by Lincoln Memorial University.

The women's 5,000-meter race will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the men's 8K-race at 10 a.m.

The Tusculum men will have five runners competing at this year's SAC Championship. TC finished in the top-four in three of its four fall events, including a team title at the Carson-Newman Invitational.

Sophomore Caleb Cutshall enters Saturday's SAC Championship after posting a career-best 8K time of 26:57.9 at the Royal Cross Country Challenge in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Fall Branch, Tennessee product has accounted for three top-six finishes, including third place honors at the Hagan Stone Classic earlier this month. The Daniel Boone High School alum also posted a fifth place showing at the Carson-Newman Invitational. At the 2014 SAC Championship, Caleb was TC's third scorer with a time of 28:41.68 to finish 42nd.

Sophomore Jacob Cutshall finished runner-up at the C-N Invitational as he has tallied three top-10 outings this fall. He also finished sixth at the Hagan Stone event and seventh at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. The Jonesborough, Tennessee native (Daniel Boone HS) recorded a career-best time of 26:53.3 at the Royal Cross Country Challenge two weeks ago. This will be Jacob's first time competing at the SAC Championship.

Senior Lawson Burrow will be running in his fourth and final SAC Championship. The Greeneville, Tennessee native has accounted for three top-15 outings, including a pair of eighth place finishes at the Carson-Newman Invitational and the Hagan Stone Classic. The Chuckey-Doak High School graduate finished 38th at last year's conference meet.

Gallatin, Tennessee freshman J'Quen Johnson will be making his SAC Championship debut this Saturday in Kentucky. Johnson has competed in all four events this fall and posted a season-best 8K-time of 28:45 at the Royal XC Challenge earlier this month. The Gallatin High School product has finished in the top-20 three times this year, including 10th-place honors at the Carson-Newman event.

Freshman Will Noel will also be running in his inaugural league championship meet. Noel, a product of Asheville, North Carolina (Roberson HS) has scored competed in every event this fall and finished 15th in back-to-back events at the C-N Invitational and the Hagan Stone Classic. His 8K-time of 32:00.58 in his collegiate debut event at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational was his best of the season thus far.

In the women's race, the Pioneers will look to improve on their 10th place finish at last season's SAC Championship. Only one runner that competed at last year's event is running on Saturday in Greeneville senior Paige Bible. Bible has tallied three top-15 finishes this fall, including a 10th place outing at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. In her last meet at the Royal XC Challenge, the Greeneville High School graduate recorded a career-best 5K-time of 21:26.3.

Junior Pauline Muiruri has enjoyed an outstanding season for the Pioneers. She has been TC's top finisher in three of her four meets this fall and has accounted for three top-15 outings, including twice in the top-four. The Eldoret, Kenya native finished third at the Hagan Stone Classic and fourth at the Carson-Newman Invitational. For her efforts, she was named the SAC Female Runner of the Week. This will be Muiruri's first SAC Championship, but not her first run in a collegiate league event. During her freshman year at Grand Canyon University, she finished 10th at the PacWest Conference Championship and followed that with a 59th place showing at the NCAA II West Regional.

Junior Ashley Andrukonis will be running in her third SAC Championship, but first since 2011. The Greeneville native has run in all four fall meets and finished 11th at the Hagan Stone Classic. She also placed 20th at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational and 24th at the Carson-Newman Invitational. The South Greene High School alum enters this weekend with some momentum after posting a career-best 5K time of 23:05.4 at the Royal XC Challenge.

Four Pioneers will be making their SAC Championship debuts this weekend. Lewisville, North Carolina freshman Mackenzie Newsome has finished in the top-10 in all three of her collegiate outings this year, including sixth place at the Hagan Stone Classic and eighth at the C-N Invitational. She also finished 10th in her collegiate debut at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational where she tallied a season-best time of 22:31.40.

Freshman Deondra Thomas (Columbia, Tenn./Columbia Central HS) has ran in all four fall meets, including her 12th place finish at the Hagan Stone Classic. Her best 5,000-meter time came two weeks ago at the Royal XC Challenge as Thomas posted a time of 22:07.1.

Rookie Lillian Wallace has competed in all four meets this year with a pair of top-25 performances, including a 19th place finish at the Hagan Stone Classic. Her season-best time of 26:27.24 came at the L-R Invitational to open the season for the Memphis, Tennessee product (Cordova HS).

Jonesborough, Tennessee freshman Sierra Hanson has competed in two events this fall, including her 21st place finish at the Hagan Stone Classic. Her time of 26:17.9 at the Royal XC Challenge earlier this month was her best 5K time of the season for the Daniel Boone High School graduate.

This weekend's race in Pineville, Kentucky will mark the first time a SAC Championship event of any kind has been conducted in a state outside the conference's geographic footprint.

- TC -