Tuesday, July 29, 2003

GREENVILLE, S.C. (July 29, 2003) - The Southern Conference football coaches, who have been meeting with the media this week at the league's annual football rouser in Greenville, S.C., have named their preseason All-Southern Conference team. Six student-athletes from East Tennessee State were named among the league's top players. Highlighting the list of first-team selections were defensive backs Tony Tiller (Lithonia, Ga.) and Gerald Sensabaugh (Kingsport, Tenn.). Tiller was recently named to the NCAA Division I-AA All-America team by The Sports Network for the second time in 2003 and was an All-SoCon selection last season. The 6-foot-1 cornerback registered 41 tackles, one interception and eight pass break-ups in 2002, while Sensabaugh played in 11 games for the Bucs, starting nine at safety en route to his first All-Southern Conference selection. Sensabaugh led the team and was second in the SoCon with four fumble recoveries in 2002. Earning second-team recognition for the Buccaneers were defensive back Montreal Harkley (Hanahan, S.C.), linebacker Mike Cornegay (Fayetteville, N.C.) and defensive lineman Brandon Calton (Pennington Gap, Va.), while running back Gaven Varner (Summerville, S.C.) was ETSU's lone offensive player to make the list. Harkley was named All-SoCon last year after leading the league in interceptions. Calton played in all 12 games for the Bucs in 2002 and was second on the team with 10 tackles for loss. Despite missing nearly half of the season due to injury, Cornegay finished seventh on the squad with 49 tackles, including a season-high 13 tackles against The Citadel on Oct. 12. Varner, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound senior, led the team with 599 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns in his first season at ETSU in 2002. Perhaps Varners best game as a Buc came against VMI last September, when he rushed for 128 yards on just 15 carries and three touchdowns. For a complete list of the 2003 Coaches Preseason All-Southern Conference Team, click here to go to the Southern Conference release.