SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Susquehanna University men's and women's cross country teams are gearing up for Saturday's Middle Atlantic Conference championships hosted by Widener University at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia. The men's race will start at noon, with the women's race at 1 p.m.

The Susquehanna men, who finished third at last year's MAC championships, will be led by sophomore Kyle Snyder (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East) . Snyder has the team's top three times this season, led by a sixth-place finish in 27:01.79 at the DeSales Invitational on Oct. 16, the 13th-fastest 8,000-meter time in the conference this season. In the 2003 MAC championships, Snyder finished 31st in 28:58.36.

Freshman Joe Ramsey (Sunbury, PA/Shikellamy) owns the third-best time on the squad this season, a 28:01.76 at the DeSales Invitational.

Junior Jadrien Deibler (Snydertown, PA/Shikellamy) will attempt to improve on a strong finish at last year's championships, where he placed 10th in a time of 27:38.92. He recorded the second-fastest time on the team this season with a 28:01.54 at the DeSales Invitational. In the 2002 championships, he finished 57 th in a time of 29:30.

Freshman Jentre Deibler (Snydertown, PA/Shikellamy) , brother of Jadrien, will look to continue a successful first season in which he ran the squad's third-best time with a 28:07 at the LaSalle Invitational on Oct. 2.

Senior Jeremy Apgar (Wantage, NJ/High Point Regional), junior Chris Wiegand (Coatesville, PA/Downingtown H.S.) and sophomores Doug Haines (Flourtown, PA/Springfield) and Ken Dammers (Sussex, NJ/Vernon Township) will also compete for the Crusader men on Saturday.

On the women's side, the youthful squad will aim to build upon last year's seventh-place finish.

Sophomore Heather Matta (Holyoke, MA/Westfield) , who finished 32nd in 27:06.31 at last year's championships, owns the squad's top time on a 6,000-meter course this year, a 24:40 at the Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 11.

Freshman Katie Pulizzano (Allentown, PA/William Allen) holds the team's second-fastest time, a 25:05 at the Spiked Shoe Invitational. She also finished in 25:15 at the Allegheny Classic on Sept. 25.

Other strong first-year runners are freshmen Erica Zornig (South Windsor, CT/South Windsor ) and Jessica Farawell (Verona, NJ/Verona) . Zornig has several strong finishes this season, including a 25:09 at the Spiked Shoe Invitational, and Farawell ran the Allegheny Classic in 25:22 and the Spiked Shoe Invitational in 25:44.

Rounding out the lineup for the Crusaders will be senior Jess Pettengill (Watsontown, PA/Warrior Run) , sophomore Wendy McCardle (Hackettstown, NJ/Mount Olive) and freshman Sara Jagielski (Grand Isle, VT/Rice Memorial) and Amanda Janicki (Pittsford, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) .

Susquehanna will try to dethrone defending MAC champion Elizabethtown along with Messiah and Widener for the men's team title while the women will battle with defending title-holder Messiah.