Cross Country | 11/7/2014 1:43:00 PM

AVE MARIA, Fla.  – The 2014 Sun Conference Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, Nov. 8.  This year's event will be run at the Fountains Country Club in Lake Worth, Fla.

Saturday morning's men's 8K will begin 8:00 a.m. at the Fountains Country Club's South Course, while the women's 5K will begin at 8:45 a.m.

MENS CROSS COUNTRY TSC PREVIEW

The Embry-Riddle Eagles, ranked No. 4 in the nation, are looking to win their tenth consecutive conference title.  The Eagles dominated last year's conference meet with ERAU 's Vincent Bett, Paul McKenna, Alec Hernandez, and Zach Kraus taking the top four spots individually.  Bett was named the 2013 Sun Conference Runner of the Year while McKenna was named Newcomer of the Year.

Bett, McKenna, and Hernandez all return for this year's meet and are each a favorite to win the individual conference title on Saturday.  Hernandez has been named conference Runner of the Week three times this season, the only runner to receive the honor multiple times in 2014. 

Last week's Sand Shark Invitation served as an excellent preview for this weekend's conference championship as a total of eight TSC programs competed in the event. Embry-Riddle finished second overall in the race, six spots ahead of the next closest TSC finisher SCAD Savannah.  SCAD is also expected to have a strong race this weekend; the Bees are the only Sun Conference team, other than fourth ranked Embry-Riddle, with votes (72) in the national poll.

 WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TSC PREVIEW

Defending conference champion SCAD Savannah is the favorite to win the league title again this year.  The Bees beat out Embry-Riddle by 11 points last year to take the conference crown, ending ERAU's streak of seven consecutive conference titles.  SCAD was picked by the league's coaches to win the Sun Conference Championship during the preseason and remains the only nationally ranked team in the conference, sitting at No. 10 in the NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll. 

The favorite to win Saturday's race is SCAD's Jessy Scarpone.  Scarpone, last year's runner-up at the conference championships, has been named Runner of the Week three times this season.  The sophomore set the school record for fastest individual 5K time (17:30) at the Sand Shark Invitational and also help set the program record for top five average (18:07).

 
Head Coach, Taylor Peliska states, "We ran really well during the last race, but all this was for preparation for Saturday's race. It all comes down to this. They (AMU) have are been running really well. Workouts have been good, and everyone is feeling good. Everything is coming together now and peaking at the right time." In talking about the TSC conference as a whole Peliska believes the conference from top to bottom has gotten stronger. "This year the conference as a whole got a lot faster. We would like to finish higher than the preseason poll had us finish. Our goal is to finish in the top half of the conference; top five of both sides".