NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 27, 2007) - The ETSU men's and women's cross country teams laid everything out on the line Saturday afternoon, as they competed at the 2007 Atlantic Sun Championships from Vaughn's Creek Cross Country Course in Nashville. The men placed second overall, while the women finished 10th.

The men were looking to end Belmont's five-year run as conference champions; however, the Bucs fell just shot as the Bruins' Colin Magut won his second straight individual conference title, lifting them to their sixth consecutive crown.

Belmont, ETSU, and Campbell were the top three teams to finish the 8K race. The Bruins ended the day with 30 points, which was 16 points better than the Bucs and 58 points better than the Camels.

Junior Jeff Crane (Taylors, S.C.) led the pack of Buccaneer runners, finishing second overall with a mark of 25:16. Crane's time was six seconds slower than Magut's for the title. Crane's teammate and last season's Most Valuable Runner, Michael Deren (Blasdell, N.Y.), finished right behind in third. Deren finished the rigorous course in 25:27.

Kenneth Rotich (Nairobi, Kenya), who led ETSU up front all season, entered the race with hopes of bringing back a conference title to Johnson City for the first time since 1996 ended the race in seventh. The sophomore runner finished the event with a time of 25:41.

Rounding out the scorning attack for the Bucs was senior Jordan Ladd (Lyn, Ontario) and junior J Penny (Telford, Tenn.). Ladd posted a 14th-place finish, crossing the tape in 26:23, while Penny finished twenty second later in 20th.

Three ETSU runners walked away with all-conference honors, as Crane, Deren, and Rotich were all recognized for their hard-earned efforts.

On the women's side, Belmont made it a clean sweep, beating out Kennesaw State and North Florida for its second consecutive conference championship. Lauren Weaver won the individual conference crown for the Bruins, snapping the tape in 17:51.

Vicki Currie (Dumfries, Scotland) led the Buccaneer runners across the finish line for the fourth consecutive meet. The Scottish sensation finished the 5K race in 22nd, posting a mark of 19:49.

Once again the freshmen twins of Tesha and Terra Haggard (Morristown, Tenn.) were the second and third ETSU runners to finish the course. For the second straight meet Tesha concluded the race in 20:47, placing her 52nd at the conference championships. Terra followed six slots behind in 58th, finishing in 21:12.

Sophomore Christin Zink (Herndon, Va.) turned in her best performance of the season. The Herndon, Va. native posted a season-best time of 22:01, chipping 21 seconds off her previous best. Freshman Rochelle Crooke (Cookeville, Tenn.) wrapped up the scorning efforts for ETSU.

The Buccaneer cross country team will be back in action in two weeks when they head to Gainesville, Fla. for the NCAA South Regional. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU cross country and all other Buccaneer athletic news.