Date Posted: 10/24/2007

MACON, Ga. – On Saturday, the Atlantic Sun Conference will hold its first championship of the 2007-08 academic year, the Women’s Cross Country Championship. Lipscomb serves as the host and the race will be contested at the Vaughn’s Creek Cross Country Course. Previously, Vaughn’s Creek Cross Country Course has been the site for two league meets, 2004 Atlantic Sun Championship and the 1999 SEC Championship

 

The Bruins enters Saturday’s meet as the favorite to defend their title and win for the sixth time in the seven years they have been in the league. They have been ranked No. 1 in every coaches’ poll, including the final poll, released today. The Bruins return three runners, Lauren Williams, Elizabeth Smothers and Brittany Thune, who finished in the top eight at the 2006 Atlantic Sun Championship.

UNF, runner-up to Belmont at the 2006 Atlantic Sun Championship, enters the 2007 meet in the same No. 2 spot. The Ospreys held down the second slot following a fifth-place finish at the Furman Invitational on October 13. Senior Amanda Davey will lead the charge for UNF. She finished fourth at the 2006 A-Sun Championship and among returning runners, she recorded the second-fastest time (only Belmont’s Williams ran faster). Davey won a pair of Runner of the Week awards in September and enters the meet with the fourth-fastest 5K time in the league.

Dating back to the preseason poll, the Bruins had earned every first-place vote from the coaches, but in this final poll, Kennesaw State stole one away despite finishing third. The Owls opened the season with two team wins and junior Erin Sutton winning a pair of Runner of the Week awards but by the end of the season it was a pair of freshman, Mackenzie Howe and Kristen Gibson leading the squad. Howe won back-to-back Runner of the Week awards in October and Gibson won the Jacksonville State University Foothills Invitational.

Despite losing two-time league champion Alicia Valtin to graduation, Campbell has remained in the top portion of the league throughout the season and enter Saturday’s meet as the No. 4 team in the coaches’ poll. Host Lipscomb follows Campbell at No. 5 with Jacksonville at No. 6.

The poll concludes with newcomer Florida Gulf Coast at No. 7, up from No. 11 in the preseason poll; Gardner-Webb and Mercer share the No. 8 spot followed by ETSU, USC Upstate and Stetson. USC Upstate’s hopes will ride with freshman Emily Tangwar. She has recorded five top-8 finishes this season, including a win at the Citadel Invitation on September 29. She won the final Runner of the Week award and turned in the second-fastest 5K time in the league this fall.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

2007 Atlantic Sun Women's Cross Country - Week 5
Rank	Prev. Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Votes
1.	1	Belmont (11)	143
2.	2.	UNF	125
3.	3.	Kennesaw State (1)	122
4.	4.	Campbell	100
5.	5.	Lipscomb	97
6.	6.	Jacksonville	81
7.	7.	Florida Gulf Coast	69
T8.	8.	Gardner-Webb	56
T8.	9.	Mercer	56
10.	10.	ETSU	34
11.	11.	USC Upstate	30
12.	12.	Stetson	23

Related Links:
 • Women's Cross Country Championship