Cross Country Headed to SoCon Championships

Saturday, October 31

Greenville, S.C.

10:00 AM

Chattanooga

Southern Conference

10/29/2015 10:45:00 AM | Cross Country & Track & Field

By: Anne Wehunt

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga cross country teams will head to Greenville, S.C., this weekend for the Southern Conference Championships hosted by Furman University on Saturday, October 31.

The men's 8K will begin at 10:00 a.m. followed by the women's 5K at 10:45 a.m. An awards ceremony to honor the top team and individual performances will follow the women's race.

Junior Paul Stuart (Brentwood, Tenn.) ranks 16^th among the men in the 8K distance, posting a time of 25:19.81 at the Jacksonville State Foothills Invitational earlier this month. Samford has a stranglehold at the top of the league standings with all four of the top spots belonging to the Paladins and nine of their top 10 runners with conference-leading marks.

Freshmen Mark Britt (Lebanon, Tenn.), Richard Guiry (Nashville, Tenn.), Jack Strevell (Nolensville, Tenn.) and John Payne (Portland, Tenn.) will look to make an impact for the Mocs in their first championship event. Austin Ethridge (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and Zack Darby (Knoxville, Tenn.) add depth and experience to a young squad.

On the women's side, junior Teghan Henderson (Pickering, Ontario) returns to the lineup after sitting out last season with an injury. The 2013 All-American and SoCon champ is second in the league standings for the 5K behind 2014 champion, Furman's Allie Buchalski.

Buchalski posted a season-high time of 17:12.70 on September 4 at the Queens Twilght in Charlotte, N.C. Nearly a month later, Henderson hit her stride with a time of 17:15.47 in the JSU Foothills Invitational in Oxford, Ala.

Sopomore Emily Drouin (Verona, Ontario) is second in timing for the Mocs and fifth overall in the 5K with a PR time of 17:44.53 at the JSU Foothills Invitational.

Also ranked among the Top 20 in the league standings for the veteran-heavy Mocs is senior Rebecca Greenwall (14^th), junior Jessica York (16^th), sophomore Hannah Chamblin (17^th) and sophomore Maddison Melchionna (20^th).

Chattanooga's women finished second this season and will look to unseat the Paladins who have won back-to-back titles along with their men's team.

Complete results will be available at GoMocs.com. Watch both races on Periscope! Follow @soconsports on Twitter for the link to each stream. The link, when available, will be posted on GoMocs Facebook and Twitter feeds as well as the cross country schedule page at GoMocs.com.