ANDERSON, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference's top cross country runners are set to descend upon Spartanburg, S.C., Saturday for the 26th running of the SAC Women's Cross Country Championships.
AU is serving as the host institution for the meet's second visit to the Palmetto state in three years, but just its third overall. The 2016 Championships were hosted by Newberry in Columbia and the 2008 Championships were located at Crooked Creek Park in Chapin.
This year's version will take place at the Milliken Research Center, which also hosted the 2017 Southern Conference Championships, the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Championships and the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Championships. USC Upstate traditionally hosts a pair of meets there each season and it has also been the site of numerous South Carolina High School League races.
The men will begin the day's festivities with an eight kilometer race starting at 9 a.m., with the women's race tentatively set for a 10:15 a.m. start and covering a six kilometer distance. Queens will be seeking its third consecutive conference title after snapping Wingate's three-year reign in 2016.
Mars Hill owns eight SAC Championships, with its most recent title coming in 2006, while Carson-Newman has claimed five championships, including the 2005 crown. The Trojans finished as runners-up to Queens a year ago, snapping a three-year streak of third-place finishes (2014-16) and have finished third at the SAC Championships in each of the last three years and four of the last six after claiming the title in their first two seasons in the conference (2010 and 2011).
The Royals, who were ranked 21st nationally in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Poll, were the top-ranked team in the Southeast Region, while the Trojans were fourth. Lenoir-Rhyne held the seventh spot and Wingate was No. 8.
The Trojans have posted four top-10 finishes this season, including a win at the season-opening Southern Wesleyan in mid-September, with senior Abigail Bozarth pacing the Black and Gold in all four outings. The Summerville, S.C., native won the individual title at SWU and finished fifth at the Sixth Annual North Georgia Invitational. She posted a personal-best time of 22:36.5 at last season's Furman Cross Country Classic.
With seven runners posting either season-best or career-best times, the Trojans notched their highest finish since 2011 by placing second at last year's SAC Championships. Allyson Malone garnered First-Team All-Conference accolades by placing seventh a year ago, while Olivia Evans collected Second-Team All-SAC and All-Freshman Team honors after finishing 12th.
Bozarth captured Second-Team All-SAC recognition after finishing 13th, with Olivia Rish and and Lydia Gambrell claiming 31st and 32nd place, respectively. Hannah Beach and Martha Coleman rounded out the Trojan contingent in 39th and 41st, respectively, a year ago.
Parking and admission to the SAC Cross Country Championships are free.
