Anderson College head cross country coach Aaron Schaffner inherits a veteran women's team and a men's program on the rise with the addition of his younger brother Ethan. Both AC teams open the 2004 season Saturday at the Spartanburg Eye Opener Meet. The Lady Trojans have finished no lower than third in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference championship meet since joining the league in 1999. The AC women will be led by Ashley Smoak, who participated in the 2002 NCAA meet, and Kacey Harold, who has recovered from a stress fracture that hampered her last fall. In 2003, Smoak recorded three top-10 finishes and finished 13th in the CVAC meet, and Harold finished in the top five twice and came in 14th at the CVAC meet. "At the end of track season, Ashley was just starting to get her old form back," Schaffner said. "We've been working a lot on her mental approach. She's a great student-athlete. Kacey probably went out a bit too hard last season. We'll keep a closer eye on her this year." Also returning to the lineup is Ashley Hughes, who finished in the top 20 in two meets. "I think we've got a really good women's team," Schaffner said. "We had our best recruiting year ever in terms of quality." The top newcomer is Jennifer Hitt, who picked Anderson over several Division I schools. "She had a great senior season in high school and was recruited by South Carolina, Clemson, and Appalachian State," Schaffner said. "But she enjoyed her visit to AC and made the decision to come here. She's going to be a real solid runner for us, and she will challenge for the No. 1 position." Schaffner also has added Tara Michael and Gretchen Harding, two athletes who will run both cross country and track. The Lady Trojans won the '02 CVAC title but finished second last season to Lees-McRae. For the third consecutive year, the CVAC meet will be held at Anderson's Pine Lake Golf Course on Friday, Oct. 29. "I think we will challenge for the CVAC title again this season," Schaffner said. "We finished second last season and were a bit unlucky. If Kacey had been healthy, I think we could've challenged Lees-McRae, but we'll have another crack at them this year." The buzz surrounding the men's program centers around the arrival of Schaffner's younger brother Ethan, who turned down offers from Kentucky, Miami of Ohio, and Eastern Michigan to join his brother at AC. Ethan Schaffner finished ninth in the Ohio state meet last fall and was a four-time all-league and all-district selection in cross country. "Ethan is very tough," Aaron Schaffner said. "The talent in Ohio is very deep. I think he can challenge for the CVAC individual title this season. He's right there." Schaffner also has added two local runners to the men's roster - Jason Brian of Greenville and Matt Atkinson of Greenwood. John Roddy and Michael Allio are among the veteran runners returning to the AC program.