Spartan men picked second in SoCon Preseason Poll
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The UNCG men's cross country team was tabbed to finish second in the Southern Conference, while the women's team was picked to tie for seventh place by the league's head coaches, the conference office announced on Friday.
The Spartan men received four first-place votes 89 points overall to finish just behind Appalachian State, who won the SoCon title in 2009. The Mountaineers had five first-place votes and 92 total points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
The Spartans return four runners that finished in the top-20 in last season's championship. These runners are juniors Mike Koech and Joey Thompson, who both earned first-team all-conference in 2009, and seniors Andy Clyne and AJ Savoia. Clyne earned second-team all-conference last year for the Spartans. UNCG is looking to improve on its third-place finish from a season ago at this year's championship.
Following UNCG was Chattanooga who received two first-place votes and 78 points and Davidson was picked fourth after receiving 75 points. Elon edged Furman for fifth place as they received 65 and 64 points, respectively. Western Carolina (43 points), College of Charleston (36), Samford (30), The Citadel (20) and Wofford (13) rounded out the men's poll.
The women's team was picked to tie for seventh place with Western Carolina after the two schools each received 56 points. Reigning Southern Conference Champions Samford was picked to win the league again after picked up nine first-place votes and 116 points.
Elon was picked to finish second after garnering two first-place votes and 110 points and Appalachian State was right behind them with one-first place vote and 98 points. Davidson was tabbed to finish in fourth place with 90 votes, while Chattanooga and Furman followed with 81 and 79 points, respectively. Following UNCG and Western Carolina was College of Charleston in ninth place with 42 points. Wofford (30 points), The Citadel (18) and Georgia Southern (16) completed the poll.
Last season, the Spartans finished in seventh place at the SoCon Championships, where former Spartan Sherrika Jordan captured second-team All-SoCon honors.
The Spartans will open their 2010 season on Sept. 4 at the Guilford College XC Carnival.
AGATE
2010 Cross Country Preseason Polls
Men
Team (#1
votes)
Points
1. Appalachian State
(5)
92
2. UNCG
(4)
89
3. Chattanooga
(2)
78
4.
Davidson
75
5.
Elon
65
6.
Furman
64
7. Western
Carolina
43
8. College of
Charleston
36
9.
Samford
30
10. The
Citadel
20
11.
Wofford
13
Women
Team (#1
votes)
Points
1. Samford
(9)
116
2. Elon
(2)
110
3. Appalachian State
(1)
98
4.
Davidson
90
5. Chattanooga
81
6.
Furman
79
T7.
UNCG
56
T7. Western
Carolina
56
9. College of
Charleston
42
10.
Wofford
30
11. The Citadel
18
12. Georgia
Southern
16
- UNCG -