GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the South Atlantic Conference Championship Saturday morning at Salisbury Community Park in Salisbury, North Carolina.
The women's 6-kilometer race will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, followed by the men's 8-kilometer race at 10:30 a.m. The presentation of awards will follow each championship race.
The Pioneers finished seventh in the men's championship meet and eighth in the women's last season, and have two men's and three women's runners returning for this year's championship.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Sophomore Bryson Livesay earned a pair of top-10 finishes for the Pioneers this fall, including a third-place finish in the 8K at Walters State on Sept. 10 (28:52.7). He ran a career-best time of 26:18.7 in the 8K at the Appalachian Challenge in Knoxville on Oct. 21 en route to a 38th-place result. Last year, the Jonesborough, Tennessee native finished 48th in the SAC Championship with a time of 26:40.1.
Senior Antonio Aparicio has run in five events this fall, with seventh-place finishes at Walters State on Sept. 10 (30:33.8) and at Milligan on Sept. 30. A native of Valencia, Spain, Aparicio will be competing at his third SAC Championship looking to surpass his career-best 8K time of 26:35.0 set at the Queen City Invite on Sept. 24, 2021.
A trio of first-year runners will round out the Tusculum lineup, as freshmen Jerry Ricker and DeWayne Morris will be joined by sophomore Xavion Bogus on the course. Ricker (Kingsport, Tenn.) ran a season-best 8K time of 29:25.4 at the Appalachian Challenge and had a top-10 finish at Walters State, while Bogus (Knoxville, Tenn.) ran three times this season and was timed at 37:54.90 at the Appalachian Challenge. Morris (Knoxville, Tenn.) also ran three times and had a best time of 32:26.2 at the Eye Opener on Sept. 2.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Junior Emily Coddington has earned three top-10 finishes in five events this fall, including a victory at Milligan on Sept. 30 and a second-place finish at Walters State. Coddington, who was sixth at the Royals XC Challenge on Oct. 7, has not run a 6K this season but has a season-best 5K time of 19:01.6 set at the Appalachian Challenge. The Acosta, Pennsylvania native was Tusculum's top finisher at last year's SAC Championship with a time of 23:15.8.
Freshman Inmaculada Delgado has two top-10 finishes in four events this season, taking sixth at Walters State and eighth at Milligan. Delgado, who hails from Seville, Spain, ran a season-best 5K time of 20:03.8 at the Appalachian Challenge.
Junior Judy Chellah (Johnson City, Tenn.) earned a 10th-place finish at Walters State and was 11th at Milligan, and posted her best 5K of the year at the Royals XC Challenge with a time of 20:46.8. She was timed at 25:54.3 at last year's SAC Championship.
Senior Erin Bruce (Jonesborough, Tenn.) will be running at her third SAC Championship after placing 51st in 2019 and 58th in 2021. Bruce took eighth at Walters State and had a 16th-place finish at Milligan, with her best time of the season at the Appalachian Challenge of 20:45.7.
Senior Destiny Lottie (Des Moines, Iowa) makes her SAC Championship debut after running in five meets during the fall, led by a 22nd-place performance at Walters State and a 24th-place showing at Milligan.
