CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's and women's cross country teams are headed to Cullowhee, N.C., for the Southern Conference Championships hosted by Western Carolina Saturday morning.
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"We are looking forward to running a hard fought conference championship race this weekend," Chattanooga head coach Andy Meyer said. "The kids are feeling well and we will finally have our girls' team running at full strength with no injuries or illness."
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Poole, Chattanooga's consistent top finisher, holds the Mocs' best 5K time this season, posting a 17:52.5 at the Greater Louisville Classic. Three different women have finished second for UTC this season. Hannah Caldwell finished behind Poole at the season-opening Commodore Classic. She was outdistanced by newcomer Makenzie Jones two weeks later at the Greater Louisville Classic. However, it would be Moc veteran Kennedy Thomson to climb up in the ranks to cross the line second for UTC at the Berry College Invitation 6K race.
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"We are certainly looking for great races out of Emily," Meyer said. "She is always so consistent, but also Kennedy, Hannah, Makenzie, Brianna [Nelson], Nicole [Buehrle] and Sophia [Neglia]. They have switched places and been so close to each other all year long. We've had such great depth and then add Julia and Rebekah just right on them."
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The UTC women's team is ranked 15th in the South Region and claimed the title at the Berry College Invitational in its last outing. Emily Poole led the Mocs with a second place finish and Chattanooga had seven runners finish in the Top 20.
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"Our league is so deep and competitive for the ladies," Meyer said. "We could be anywhere from second to fourth depending on the day and everyone's attitude."
Emily Poole was All-Conference Second Team last year at the league championships.
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 Ryan Gebelein continued his strong running from a year ago and has been consistently led the Mocs this season. He has Chattanooga's best 8K time this season running a 25:37.8 at the Greater Louisville Classic.
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At the Berry College Invitational it was a sprint to the finish for the Mocs' Mark Britt and Nathan Watson who finished seventh and ninth overall, respectively, leaving Gebelein as the third UTC runner. The Mocs took second in the meet loaded with talent.
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"Our guys are a little banged up, but nothing that can't be overcome on race day," Meyer said. "Our guys are going to be in a battle for fourth to sixth place again depending on the day and attitudes.
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"Nathan, Ryan [Gebelein] and Mark have been right with each other all year long with Jonathan [Boyd] a step behind them. Â Micah [Sneller], Josh [Topham] and Ryan [Phillips] will have to run well for us to compete well this weekend."
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Five Southern Conference teams have earned regional or national rankings. The Furman women, ranked second in the Southeast Region, are 15th in the USTFCCCA national poll while the Paladin men are third in the Southeast Region and 23rd in the nation.
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ETSU's men currently rank eighth in the South Region poll while the Samford women are 14th in the South and the Chattanooga women are 15th.
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"The coaches do a great job of having teams prepared and it will be a dog fight for our girls," Meyer said. "But as hard as these ladies have worked and raced, I have the utmost confidence they will compete to the best of their ability on Saturday.
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"Again on the guy's side, three teams have been regionally or nationally ranked at times so it will be a slugfest for the guys as well."
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The men's 8-kilometer race will begin at 10:00 a.m. and the women will run a 5K beginning at 10:45. Admission is free to the championships and the awards ceremony will follow the women's race.
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