COLUMBIA, S.C. – With four runners posting top-20 finishes, the Anderson women's cross country team captured third place at the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Championship, Saturday morning at the Sandhill Research and Education Center.

While searching for their third overall conference crown after winning back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011, the Trojans matched their finish from a year ago, just behind Queens, which earned its first championship since joining the league in 2013, and three-time defending conference champion Wingate.

Catawba claimed the fourth spot with Carson-Newman finishing fifth and Lenoir-Rhyne, a three-time SAC Champion, taking the sixth spot. Lincoln Memorial, Mars Hill, Tusculum, Newberry, Coker and Brevard rounded out the 12-team field.

Senior Olivia Gardner paced the Trojans and earned Second-Team All-SAC honors with a ninth-place finish in a time of 18:47.1, which was nearly 11 seconds faster than her mark last year. It marked the third consecutive year that the Tarpon Springs, Fla., native captured all-conference accolades. Junior Haylee Love also collected all-conference hardware for the third straight year after crossing the finish line in the 5K distance in 13th place in a time of 19:11.1.

Sophomore Abigail Bozarth earned Honorable Mention All-SAC honors after posting a time of 19:22.7 and finishing in 16th place by bettering her time from a year ago by more than 73 seconds. Teammate Maddie Buddenberg (19:25.1) was just behind in 17th place and also garnered Honorable Mention All-SAC by slashing two minutes off her performance a year ago. Sophomore Martha Coleman narrowly missed capturing Honorable Mention All-SAC honors with a 22nd-place finish in a time of 19:42.5.

Junior Hannah Sanford (19:50.6) finished 25th, while freshman Breck Jones finished a 27th-place finish and crossed the line with the sixth-best time among freshmen at 20:06.05. Senior Grace Gerlock (20:08.3) trimmed 47 seconds off last years' time at the SAC Championship and claimed 28th place, with freshman Morgan Bridges posting a time of 20:22.0 and finishing in 29th place. Freshman Rebecca Faircloth was 34th in a time of 20:38.8.

Next up for the Trojans is the NCAA Southeast Regional, which is slated for Saturday, Nov. 5 in Montevallo, Ala.

SAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year: Corinne Kule, Queens
SAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year: Tsehaye Baney, Queens
SAC Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year: Natane Deruytter, Queens

All-SAC First Team
Darroneisha Lott, Coker
Sydney Lautzenheiser, Wingate
Alyssa Johnson, Wingate
Hannah Wolkenhauer, Queens
Lucie Noall, Queens
Natane Deruytter, Queens
Corinne Kule, Queens

All-SAC Second Team
Carissa Jenkins, Queens
Haylee Love, Anderson
Kaleigh Jackson, Mars Hill
Mandi Moxie, Queens
Madison Hiatt, Wingate
Olivia Gardner, Anderson
Juliet Salgueiro, Wingate

All-SAC Honorable Mention
Hannah Mercer, Catawba
Abigail Bozarth, Anderson
Maddie Buddenberg, Anderson
Valerie Griesche, Wingate
Anna Clapsaddle, Wingate
Audra Tarber, Lenoir-Rhyne
Kim Thiede, Queens

All-Freshman Team
Natane Deruytter, Queens
Kim Deschka, Catawba
Hannah Mercer, Catawba
Kim Thiede, Queens
Mandi Moxie, Queens

RESULTS