MACON, Ga. (Sept. 12, 2007) - The ETSU men's cross country team did not take long to make some noise among the conference ranks, as they moved ahead Kennesaw State for second place in this week's Atlantic Sun Conference coaches poll.

The Bucs entered the preseason ranked third in the conference, but after their first meet this past weekend at the Virginia Tech Invitational, ETSU showed enough firepower to surpass the Owls for second. ETSU trails conference leader Belmont by 22 points, and holds the slimmest margin over Kennesaw, 122 to 121.

Junior Jeff Crane (Taylors, S.C.) led the Bucs last weekend at Blacksburg, Va., finishing the 6,000-meter race second overall with a mark of 18:42. Joining Crane in the top-10 was senior Jordan Ladd (Lyn, Ontario) with a time of 19:05. Ladd finished the race 10^th overall.

The men will look to continue its climb up the A-Sun ladder this weekend, as ETSU competes in the Winthrop/Asics Invitational on Saturday in Rock Hill, S.C. The ETSU women's cross country team will also be in action this Friday, when they run at the University of Tennessee Invitational in Maryville.

Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information regarding Bucs cross country and ETSU athletics.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-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, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.