Thursday, October 02, 2008

MACON, Ga. - ETSU’s strong performance at the Mercer RunFit Sports Invitational has allowed the Buccaneers’ men’s cross country team to cut Belmont’s lead in the men’s cross country poll to a single point. Belmont’s women expanded its lead from eight points to 14.

ETSU trailed Belmont by six points in the poll conducted two weeks earlier but its 56-point win on Saturday at the Mercer RunFit Sports Invitational bolstered the Buccaneers’ position. The Buccaneers placed their five scoring runners inside the top 14, led by Kenneth Rotich. He won the event in a time of 24:09 establishing the fastest 8K time in the conference this year.

The men’s poll remained unchanged for the top six spots with Kennesaw State, UNF, Campbell and Lipscomb following Belmont and ETSU. FGCU and USC Upstate each moved up to seventh and eighth respectively followed by Mercer, Stetson and Jacksonville.

Jacksonville’s women’s team saw the greatest bump in the women’s poll, improving from 90 points to 103 in tying Kennesaw State for the second spot in the poll. The Dolphins bested the Owls on Saturday at the Mercer RunFit Sports Invitational for the team title. Susanne Klungtveit paced the Dolphins at the event in finishing fourth. Four Dolphins finished among the top 11 runners.

After the top three, UNF emerged from a tie with Lipscomb in the previous poll as fourth in this week’s ranking. The Lady Bisons own the fifth spot followed by USC Upstate, Campbell, ETSU, Mercer, FGCU and Stetson. ETSU and Mercer swapped the eighth and ninth positions from the poll taken last.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-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, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.