The College of Charleston men's and women's cross country teams have been picked eighth and ninth respectively in the Preseason Poll selected by the coaches of the Southern Conference.
Last season the men finished eighth at the SoCon Championship meet, while the women came in ninth.
CofC Heald Coach Amy Seago said she thinks her team will do better than the poll indicates.
"This is about where I figured we would be based on the fact that mostly that poll is where we finished in conference last year," Seago said. "I am optimistic. I know we are a much better team than that, so we will just let our running speak for itself."
The Cougars will be without Trevor Sprague this year after he led the team much of last season, including a 27th place finish at the conference championship meet. Junior Chris Bailey is expected to step up as the front runner for the CofC squad. Bailey ran the seventh fastest time in school history of 33:24.63 at the NCAA Regional last year in Louisville, Ky.
On the women's side Kristen Wolfe will return and look to improve on her 29th place finish at the 2009 SoCon Championship. Wolfe is currently 15th on the all-time 6k list with a best time of 24:19.3. During the 2009-2010 track season Wolfe ran a team-best in the mile with a time of 5:10.78.
This year's men's and women's cross country teams will be filled with lots of new faces as the women have five freshman and the men have seven newcomers.
The Cougars will open their season Sept. 4 at the Eye Opener hosted by USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C.
Note: Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the preseason ballot.
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