SPARTANBURG, S.C. – For the second straight year, Furman’s men’s and women’s cross country teams were selected as the preseason favorites to take the Southern Conference title, as voted by all 10 of the league’s coaches. The Paladins are the two-time reigning SoCon champions on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Furman earned all nine possible first-place votes in both polls. The Paladin women will be paced this season by 2014 Runner of the Year Allie Buchalski, while the men will return 2014 Freshman of the Year Aaron Templeton. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.
In the men’s poll, ETSU earned the remaining first-place vote and edged out Samford (64 points) for the second spot with 66 points. VMI checks in fourth with 57 points, followed by Western Carolina (46), Chattanooga (43), UNCG (37), Mercer (23), The Citadel (17) and Wofford (16).
Chattanooga nabbed the remaining first-place vote in the women’s poll. The Mocs sit in second with Samford after both teams collected 67 points from the coaches. ETSU is slotted fourth with 61 points, with UNCG (41), Mercer (40), Western Carolina (38), VMI (26), The Citadel (22) and Wofford (11) rounding out the poll.
Samford will kick off its season on Tuesday at the Alabama/Auburn Dual Meet, and eight other SoCon teams will open up the season on Friday, Sept. 4, or Saturday, Sept. 5. ETSU will enjoy an extra week off before opening up its season on Saturday, Sept 12.
The 2015 SoCon Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Furman and are slated for Saturday, Oct. 31.
2015 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Men’s Cross Country
| Rank |
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Furman (9) |
81 |
| 2. |
ETSU (1) |
66 |
| 3. |
Samford |
64 |
| 4. |
VMI |
57 |
| 5. |
Western Carolina |
46 |
| 6. |
Chattanooga |
43 |
| 7. |
UNCG |
37 |
| 8. |
Mercer |
23 |
| 9. |
The Citadel |
17 |
| 10. |
Wofford |
16 |
Women’s Cross Country
| Rank |
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Furman (9) |
81 |
| 2. |
Chattanooga (1) |
67 |
| |
Samford |
67 |
| 4. |
ETSU |
61 |
| 5. |
UNCG |
41 |
| 6. |
Mercer |
40 |
| 7. |
Western Carolina |
38 |
| 8. |
VMI |
26 |
| 9. |
The Citadel |
22 |
| 10. |
Wofford |
11 |
-www.SoConSports.com-