(left to right) Freshmen Catherine Tolbert and Brad Shillinglaw

By Thomas Holland '00

As Coach John Showalter enters his 30th season as professor and Men’s and Women’s Cross Country coach at Erskine, he is looking for both teams to improve on last season's finish in the conference tournament.

The Lady Fleet have seven returning runners from last year’s team that had six top-five finishes, including a first place finish at Truett-McConnell. Tracey Atchley (York, SC), sole senior on the 2003 squad, will be counted on to provide leadership for the younger runners.

Junior Jessica Martin (Clermont, GA) returns as the top runner from 2002. Martin had three top 10 finishes last season, including a first place and third place finish, and finished 11th at the CVAC meet. Junior Lillian Ferguson (Abbeville, SC) will be a key runner for a young Erskine team.

Junior Perri Hiott (Hopkins, SC) will look to improve on her 21st place finish at the conference meet last season and help the Fleet reach their goal of a conference championship. Fellow junior Hannah Collier (Columbia, SC) begins her second season running for the Fleet and will build on a strong first season.

Sophomore Amber Price (Iva, SC), is an exceptional athlete, and will look to be in the Fleet’s top five. Sophomore Catherine Meggs (Laurens, SC) is in her second season on the Erskine team, and had a strong freshman year that included a seventh place finish at the Truett-McConnell race.

Catherine Tolbert (Statesville, NC) is the lone freshman on this year's team, and with hard work could help Erskine finish strong.

The men’s team returns five runners from last season’s team, including seniors Ben Busbee (Aiken, SC) and Logan Spoon (Rock Hill, SC), who have worked hard to improve their personal times. Joining the senior class will be Adam Powell (Hollywood, SC). Powell is also is a forward on the basketball team and will give the Fleet depth.

As on the women’s team, the men’s best runners are juniors. Juniors Justin Coates (Greenwood, SC) and James Corley (Aiken, SC) finished 1-2 in every race last season for Erskine and will look to improve on their personal times this season. Corley struggled last season with a stress fracture, but has worked hard to get back. Junior Chip Edmunds (Columbia, SC) has worked hard after missing some races due to an injury last year.

Showalter has added freshmen John Sell (Simpsonville, SC), Brad Sillinglaw (Rock Hill, SC), and Davey Morgan (Greenville, SC), and he believes they can help the Fleet build a strong program.