Thursday, August 20, 2009

MACON, Ga. – Since joining the Atlantic Sun in 2001, Belmont has established the standard for women’s cross country, claiming seven of the eight team titles. The league coaches again installed the Bruins as the overwhelming favorite for 2009, the conference office announced on Thursday.

Led by Brittany Thune, the 2008 individual champion and Runner of the Year, Belmont returns its top six runners from last year’s league championship. Thune can join six other women in league history to win multiple individual titles. Kara Sephel, last season’s Freshman of the Year, anchors a group of Bruins’ sophomores that claimed four spots on the All-Freshman team. Belmont received eight of the 11 first-place votes from the conference’s head coaches.

The second and third spots in the coaches’ poll resemble the results from November’s A-Sun Championship where Jacksonville edged out Kennesaw State for second place. Like the Bruins, the Dolphins return a group of veterans as their entire top seven are back for 2009. Anastasia Fokina, an All-Conference performer in 2007, could return to that level in 2009 after recovering from a broken femur last year. She teams up with four 2008 All-Atlantic Sun performers in attempting to continue the Dolphins’ ascent up the team standings over the past five years, from eighth in 2004 to second last year.

The Owls, the lone team to topple the Bruins since 2001 (winning in 2005), have placed among the top three teams in each of their four years in the A-Sun. Kennesaw State welcomes back Erin Sutton, sixth at the 2007 A-Sun Championships, from a red-shirt season. She rejoins a talented group led by Mackenzie Howe, last year’s runner up, Soibhan Wolcott, fifth in 2008, and Kristen Gibson, seventh in 2008.

UNF, USC Upstate and Lipscomb were engaged in a tight battle for the following three positions in the preseason poll with the Ospreys narrowly capturing fourth. After three straight top-four finishes, the Ospreys took sixth last season and return Hillary Adams (12th at 2008 Championship). In 2008, USC Upstate improved its team finish by five places, up from 12th to seventh and the coaches expect the Spartans to continue moving forward, voting them fifth in the poll. Emily Tangwar, the 2007 runner up and Freshman of the Year, leads the young Spartans, a team that features no seniors. Lipscomb must replace Carolyn Latham, the program’s only two-time All-Conference runner.

Campbell placed seventh and returns Baillie Locke (third in 2008 and fifth in 2007), while ETSU, FGCU, Mercer and Stetson round out the poll. The Hatters will host the 2009 Atlantic Sun Championships on Halloween morning. The Hatters serve as host for the second time – the last time occurred on the same date in 1992. The Hatter Invitational on October 16 will serve as the championship preview meet.

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.