August 28, 2007

UNCG men picked fourth in SoCon cross country poll; women tabbed eighth

SPARTANBURG, SC – The UNC Greensboro men’s cross country team was picked fourth in the pre-season poll as decided upon by the league’s coaches on Tuesday. The women’s team was picked to finish eighth this season.

On the men’s side, Appalachian State was predicted to win its third consecutive title and received nine first place votes for a total of 81 points to grab the top spot in the poll. Furman, who had a total of 66 points, came in second while Chattanooga, who earned one first-place vote, had 61 points to place third. Davidson with 53 points rounded out the top five.

Elon and College of Charleston tied for sixth place with 34 points while The Citadel, Western Carolina and Wofford round out the men’s poll.

Phil Mitchell, last year’s Conference Champion and Southern Conference Runner of the Year leads Appalachian State, Mountaineer’s Ryan O’ Keefe, Josh Houser and Blair Teal, all whom placed in the top 20 of last year’s conference championship, will also help.

For the women, defending conference champion Chattanooga received eight first-place votes for a total of 97 points and the top spot in the poll. Davidson, who had a total of 90 points including three first place votes, came in second while Appalachian State received 81 points for third place. Elon got 75 votes good for fourth place while Furman rounded out the top five with 61 points.

College of Charleston had 58 points for sixth place while Western Carolina earned 41 points for a seventh place finish. UNCG earned 35 points which tied for eighth place with The Citadel while Georgia Southern and Wofford rounded out the poll.

The UNCG men return 10 runners from a squad that had a school-best third-place finish at the SoCon championships last season while the women will look to improve on their eighth place finish last season.

AGATE:

Men’s 2007 Cross Country Preseason Poll
1. Appalachian State (9)             81
2. Furman                                 66
3. Chattanooga (1)                     61
4. UNC Greensboro                    59
5. Davidson                               53
6t.Elon                                      34
6t.College of Charleston              34
8. The Citadel                            31
9. Western Carolina                   21
10. Wofford                                10 

Women’s 2007 Cross Country Preseason Poll
1. Chattanooga (8)                     97
2. Davidson (3)                           90
3. Appalachian State                  81
4. Elon                                      75
5. Furman                                 61
6. College of Charleston              58
7. Western Carolina                   41
8t.The Citadel`                           35
8t. UNC Greensboro                   35
10. Georgia Southern                 20
11. Wofford                                12

- UNCG -