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 27^th 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 29^th place finish at the 2009 SoCon Championship. Wolfe is currently 15^th 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