Mars Hill Men, Women Picked To Win 2007 Cross Country Titles

ROCK HILL, SC - The Mars Hill College men's and women's cross country teams, who have won 18 of the past 20 South Atlantic Conference championships, are the favorites to defend their conference titles, in a vote of the league's head coaches.

The Mars Hill men's team, who have won 10 consecutive conference championships, received seven first-place votes and 62 total points. The Lions also had three named to the preseason men's All-Conference team. Winston Curry and William Mikolajczak were named to the first team, while Dustin Whitlow was named to the second team.

Lenoir-Rhyne College was picked to finish second, the place they have finished in the conference meet for the past four years. The Bears received one first-place vote and 57 total points. Brad Popple, the 2006 SAC men's Freshman of the Year, was named to the first team preseason All-Conference squad, while Andy Haines and Tyler Mooney made the second team.

Lincoln Memorial University is picked to finish third with 47 points. The Railsplitters had four preseason All-Conference selections with Ted Johnson, Jeremy Donahue and Mark Paulson all named to the first team.

Wingate University was picked to finish fourth with 42 points. Jayce Watson, who finished second in last year's conference meet, was a first team selection, while Jack Masters was named to the second team.

Catawba College is picked to finish fifth, receiving 28 points. Chris Haney was a second team preseason selection.

Tusculum College comes in at number six in the poll. The Pioneers received 22 points.

Carson-Newman College is seventh with 17 points.

Newberry College rounds out the poll. Jack Holden was a second team preseason All-Conference selection.

The Mars Hill women's team received five first-place votes and 56 total points. Mars Hill placed two on the preseason All-Conference team, with Keely Hollahan on the first team and Miley White on the second team.

Wingate and Lincoln Memorial tied for second place in the poll with 50 points each. Wingate received two first-place votes. Amber Hines, last year's women's Runner of the Year, and Ashley Hubbard were named to the preseason All-Conference first team, while Mary Kathryn Preble was named to the second team.

The Lady Railsplitters received one first-place vote. Emily Burke was named to the preseason All-Conference first team, while Jennifer Ely was named to the second team.

Carson-Newman is picked to finish fourth with 44 points. Aubrey Morris, who was second in last year's conference championship meet, is a first team preseason All-Conference pick, while Lisa Massey was named to the second team.

The Lenoir-Rhyne women are picked to finish fifth with 30 points. Genna Eisenmann, who was third in last year's conference meet, is a first team preseason All-Conference selection.

Catawba is sixth in the poll with 27 points. Maleah Cole is a first team preseason All-Conference pick, while Toni Jorgensen was named to the second team.

Tusculum is seventh with 20 points. Alicja Dembna was named to the preseason All-Conference second team.

Newberry rounds out the women's poll with 11 points. Taylor Hansen, a member of the 2006 All-Freshman team, was named to the preseason All-Conference second team.

2007 SAC PRESEASON MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY POLL

Mars Hill (7) 62
Lenoir-Rhyne (1) 57
Lincoln Memorial 47
Wingate 42
Catawba 28
Tusculum 22
Carson-Newman 17
Newberry 13
(First place votes in parenthesis)

2007 SAC PRESEASON WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY POLL

Mars Hill (5) 56
Wingate (2) 50
Lincoln Memorial (1) 50
Carson-Newman 44
Lenoir-Rhyne 30
Catawba 27
Tusculum 20
Newberry 11
(First place votes in parenthesis)

2007 SAC PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS

Men's First Team
Brad Popple, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ted Johnson, Lincoln Memorial
Jeremy Donahue, Lincoln Memorial
Mark Paulson, Lincoln Memorial
Winston Curry, Mars Hill
William Mikolajczak, Mars Hill
Jayce Watson, Wingate

Men's Second Team
Chris Haney, Catawba
Andy Haines, Lenoir-Rhyne
Tyler Mooney, Lenoir-Rhyne
Josh Armentrout, Lincoln Memorial
Dustin Whitlow, Mars Hill
Jack Holden, Newberry
Jack Masters, Wingate

Women's First Team
Aubrey Morris, Carson-Newman
Maleah Cole, Catawba
Genna Eisenmann, Lenoir-Rhyne
Emily Burke, Lincoln Memorial
Keely Hollahan, Mars Hill
Amber Hines, Wingate
Ashley Hubbard, Wingate

Women's Second Team
Lisa Massey, Carson-Newman
Toni Jorgensen, Catawba
Jennifer Ely, Lincoln Memorial
Miley White, Mars Hill
Taylor Hansen, Newberry
Alicja Dembna, Tusculum
Mary Kathryn Preble, Wingate