SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The 2008 Southern Conference Cross Country Championships are set to begin on Saturday, with the women’s 5K race at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the men’s 8K race at 10:45 a.m. The championships will take place in Spartanburg, S.C. at Milliken Park.

Admission is free to the public and directions are posted on the SoCon Cross Country Championships page. A link to this page can be found below.

Last year in Cullowhee, N.C., Appalachian State won the men’s championship, with Chattanooga taking the women’s title. The Mountaineers’ Brian Deal won the men’s race with a time of 25:07.78, while the Lady Mocs’ Kathleen Turchin won the women’s race in a time of 17:30.35.

For the Mountaineers the 2007 title was their third straight SoCon Championship, while the Lady Mocs won their second straight.

Nine of the top 15 runners from last year’s SoCon Championships are looking to compete for the men’s titles tomorrow, including two-time runner-up Patrick Morgan of Furman, 2006 champion Phil Mitchell of Appalachian State and 2007 SoCon Freshman of the Year, Chris Berry of Chattanooga. ASU has five of the top 15 runners returning.

On the women’s side, nine of the top 15 runners from last year’s SoCon Championships are also returning, including runner-up Caroline Sanker of Davidson, 2005 seventh-place finisher and 2006 fourth-place finisher Meg Gaffney of Appalachian State and 2007 SoCon Freshman of the Year, Jenna Callahan of Furman.