SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference today released the 2013 preseason Cross Country poll with Georgia Southern ranked 10th by the league's coaches. Elon was picked to win the SoCon with 93 points and five first-place votes with Furman garnering four first-place votes and second place with 86 points. Samford was selected third (79 points). Appalachian State, the 2012 champion, placed fourth with 76 points and fifth-place UNCG received two first-place votes and 61 points.
Davidson was close to being included in the top five, but with 58 points is sixth with Western Carolina (48 points) in seventh, Chattanooga eighth (40 points) and Wofford ninth (28 points). The Citadel totaled 16 points for the 11th spot.
Head Cross Country Coach Marlo Mincey isn't fazed by the rankings as the Eagles have had some individual success in recent years, but are looking forward to continuing to build team success. Senior Amanda Ventre and six newcomers will compete for the Eagles this fall.
"We are expecting our Eagles to get a lot of experience between now and the conference championship and to progress and improve," said Georgia Southern Cross Country Coach Marlo Mincey. "We want to be competitive and we are going to go out there shooting for a conference championship. We want to surprise everybody and as Georgia Southern Eagles, being used to an underdog role, we have always been able to exceed everyone's expectations of us. I know we have the squad to do that. We are going to shock a lot of people."
Georgia Southern begins its 2013 season at the end of the month and will race in its final Southern Conference Cross Country Championship in Birmingham, Ala. Samford plays host to the women's 5K race on Saturday, November 2nd.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS. Fans can follow the Eagle Cross Country and Track & Field programs on twitter @GSAthletics_TF.
