Wingate will host Food Lion SAC XC Meet Saturday

Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University will host the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference cross country championships on Saturday, Nov. 6. The meet will be held on Wingate’s campus at the cross country facility. The starting line for the races will be directly behind the press box at the soccer field.

            The men’s 8K championship race will begin at 9 a.m., with the women’s 5K championship race getting started at 10:15 a.m. A brief opening ceremony will take place at 8:30 a.m.

            In the men’s race, Mars Hill College has won 13 consecutive team championships. The Lions have another strong team this season, as they are currently ranked fifth in the Southeast Region. Justin Gragg has earned SAC men’s Runner of the Week honors twice this season for head coach Mike Owens, a 14-time Coach of the year winner.

            Tusculum senior Simon Hozapfel has been the recipient of the other weekly conference honors. He returns this season after winning the individual title at last year’s meet. Hozapfel ran the 8K course in 25:53 a year ago at Southside Park in Newton, N.C. Lenoir-Rhyne University is currently ninth in the regional standings. Anderson (S.C.) University and Wingate have each made appearances in the regional top 10 during the course of the season.

            The Wingate men won its home event (the Bulldog Stampede) on Sept. 25. Bulldog freshman Steve Hammond (Warsaw, Ohio) finished second (27:19) to Tusculum’s Hozapfel, with two WU teammates taking the fourth and seventh positions: sophomore Andrew Smith (Oakboro, N.C., 27:56) and freshman Binyam Ateka Belachew (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 28:32). The Bulldogs also finished first in the Pre-SAC Invitational on Oct. 28.

            On the women’s side, there are currently two SAC teams in the regional top 10. Anderson ranks number five and Lenoir-Rhyne follows closely behind at number seven. Lenoir-Rhyne’s Kate Griewisch (the 2009 SAC individual champion) and Anderson’s Whitney Bishoff have shared the weekly conference accolades so far in 2010. The Lenoir-Rhyne women’s team has won two straight conference titles under the direction of head coach Jason Stewart.

            The Wingate women won the inaugural Bulldog Stampede cross country meet on Sept. 25. Bulldog freshman Keeley Wood (Sanford, N.C.) led the Wingate squad with a third-place finish, crossing the line in 21:02. Wingate senior Alicia Harbold (Ephrata, Pa.) finished in sixth place (21:58). Harbold is a two-time All-SAC performer. Wingate also claimed the top prize in the Pre-SAC Invitational on Oct. 28.

(Wingate University senior Daniel Smith contributed this article. Smith is a Parks and Recreation major from Oakboro, N.C.)