August 17, 2022

SAC releases cross country preseason polls, runners to watch

The South Atlantic Conference has released both the men's and women's cross country preseason polls.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) - Wingate was voted as the favorite to win the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Men's Cross Country title, the league office announced today.

The Bulldogs, who won the 2021 SAC Men's Cross Country Championship, the 2021 NCAA Southeast Regional, and finished in the top-10 nationally, received 12 first place votes and tallied 144 points in the poll.

Anderson, No. 2 in the poll, snagged 125 points, followed by Catawba at No. 3 in the poll with 124 points and the lone remaining first place vote.

Lincoln Memorial earned the No. 4 spot with 111 points, while Lenoir-Rhyne claimed fifth in the preseason poll with 104 points. Tusculum earned the No. 6 spot in the poll with 89 points, followed by Carson-Newman at No. 7 with 72 points.

Limestone took the No. 8 spot with 69 points. Coker was No. 9 in the poll earning 50 points from the coaches.

In the No. 10 spot was Newberry with 49 points, while Mars Hill (31 points), Emory & Henry (27 points), and UVA Wise (19 points) wrapped up the preseason ranking at No. 11, No. 12, and No. 13, respectively.

In addition to the preseason coaches' poll, the SAC also released its 2022 Men's Cross Country Runners to Watch list. Below is the full list of runners to watch by team during the 2022 season.

The 2022 season will get underway on Friday, September 2.

2022 SAC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON POLL

Rank	School (Frist Place Votes)	Points
1.	Wingate (12)	144
2.	Anderson	125
3.	Catawba (1)	124
4.	Lincoln Memorial	111
5.	Lenoir-Rhyne	104
6.	Tusculum	89
7.	Carson-Newman	72
8.	Limestone	69
9.	Coker	50
10.	Newberry	49
11.	Mars Hill	31
12.	Emory & Henry	27
13.	UVA Wise	19

2022 SAC Men's Cross Country Runners to Watch

Anderson

Daniel Similton
Spain Vaughan

Carson-Newman

Colten Lee
Brent Borden
Ray Brugmans

Catawba

Erick Ramirez-Ramos
Oussama Ajala

Coker

Mahliqe Andrews
Austin Bates
Josh Zeigler

Emory & Henry
Logan Choplin
Miles Baldwin
Tommy Henzey

Lenoir-Rhyne
Jacob Parkinson
Lewis Budgen
Noah Julian

Limestone

Augustin Debrock
Judson Taylor
Mohamed Redha Djane

Lincoln Memorial

Spencer Baldwin
Ben Trimm
Caleb Brock

Mars Hill

Aaron Newlon
Hunter Snyder
Braxton Cummings

Newberry

Jacob Johnson
Nathaniel Carrasco
Jared Kildrey

Tusculum
Ray Richardson
Bryson Livesay
Gideon Dowling

UVA Wise

Nick Deboard
Zach Owens
Asher Whitt

Wingate
Bastian Mrochen
Scott Nutter
Oliver Way

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ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) - Wingate was voted as the favorite to win the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Women's Cross Country title, the league office announced today.

The Bulldogs, who won the 2021 SAC Women's Cross Country Championship and placed fifth at the NCAA National Championship, received 12 first place votes and tallied 144 points in the poll.

Anderson, No. 2 in the poll, collected 126 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne with the lone remaining first place vote and 123 points.

Catawba claimed fourth in the preseason poll with 112 points, with Lincoln Memorial earning the No. 5 spot with 101 points. Carson-Newman earned the No. 6 spot in the poll with 88 points, followed by Tusculum at No. 7 with 82 points.

Newberry took the No. 8 spot with 66 points. Limestone was No. 9 in the poll, earning 48 points from the coaches.

In the No. 10 spot was UVA Wise with 45 points, while Coker (30 points), Emory & Henry (26 points), and Mars Hill (23 points) wrapped up the preseason ranking at No. 11, No. 12, and No. 13, respectively.

In addition to the preseason coaches' poll, the SAC also released its 2022 Women's Cross Country Runners to Watch list. Below is the full list of runners to watch by team during the 2022 season.

The 2022 season will get underway on Friday, September 2.

2022 SAC WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON POLL

Rank	School (Frist Place Votes)	Points
1.	Wingate (12)	144
2.	Anderson	126
3.	Lenoir-Rhyne (1)	123
4.	Catawba	112
5.	Lincoln Memorial	101
6.	Carson-Newman	88
7.	Tusculum	82
8.	Newberry	66
9.	Limestone	48
10.	UVA Wise	45
11.	Coker	30
12.	Emory & Henry	26
13.	Mars Hill	23