Mocs women picked second, men eighth in SoCon preseason polls

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s cross country team was selected to finish second in the Southern Conference Coaches preseason poll, the league announced this past Tuesday. The men’s team was picked eighth.

The women finished second at the 2018 Southern Conference Championships behind all-conference performers Emily Poole and Mackenzie Jones. Jones is the top returning runner for the Mocs who bring back five more from last year’s roster.

The Mocs picked up one first place vote and had 71 points, 10 behind Furman who was selected to win a seventh straight championship title and picked up the maximum nine first-place votes. Samford was third in the poll with 64 points, followed by East Tennessee State with 57. Wofford (51), UNCG (37), Western Carolina (37), VMI (24), Mercer (19) and The Citadel (19) round out the list.

Wofford’s Hannah Steelman, the 2018 SoCon Runner of the Year, returns this season for her junior campaign.

The Mocs’ men’s program is projected to finish eighth in the preseason poll, just one point behind Mercer in the standings with 26 points. UTC was eighth at the championships last season and return UTC’s top finisher Nathan Watson and all-freshman selection Jonathan Boyd who was the Mocs’ third runner across the line. Former Heritage General Ryan Gebelein missed last season due to an injury, but will return to the lineup this season.

The Paladin men were also picked to win a seventh straight title with all nine first-place votes available and 81 points.

ETSU received the other first-place vote and finished second in the poll with 73 points. Samford was third with 62 and UNCG fourth with 55. VMI (53), Western Carolina (40) and Mercer (27) were fifth, sixth and seventh, ahead of the Mocs while Wofford (20) and The Citadel (13) rounded out the preseason rankings.