BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State men's cross country will travel to Elon Saturday in search of their fifth straight Southern Conference championship.

The Mountaineer men return five runners who finished in the top 20 at the 2008 championship including seniors Phil Mitchell, Josh Houser, Alec Meyer, junior Michael Walker and sophomore Sean Soderman. Mitchell, who finished with the third-best time overall, was a 2008 first-team all-conference selection.

Appalachian’s main competition for the ’09 crown appears to be from Davidson. Together, the two schools have posted the top five 8k times in the conference this season. The Mountaineers’ Mitchell has the fastest time with a school record 23:56 at the Paul Short Run in October. Soderman, who was named to the all-freshman team in 2008 is second with a time of 24:38. Davidson’s Lance Harden and Ryan Hopkins are third and fourth, while ASU’s Alec Meyer rounds out the top-five with a 24:54 mark.

Fans who are unable to attend this year’s championships will be able to follow the action via live web stream for the first time on SoCon.TV on the Southern Conference web page.

Stay logged on to GoASU.com for results from the 2009 Southern Conference Championships and all the latest in Mountaineer athletics.