The Columbia College men's cross country begins the 2015 cross country season ranked No. 18 in the 2015 NAIA coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, the NAIA National Office announced Wednesday.
The Cougars made their second trip as a team to the national championship meet in their third season of competition after winning the American Midwest Conference (AMC) championship last year. Columbia finished 19th as a team out of 36 in a competitive 8K race at the NAIA National Championships.
Columbia, who was ranked 19 in last year's final NAIA poll, returns six and adds three new members. Among the returners are All-Conference runners
Michael McCulloch,
Tommy Skosky,
Brennan Cape, and
Devin Sander. Newcomers include freshmen Emmanuel Biwott,
Tyler Lawson, and
Alex Slater.
Last season's runner-up, Southern Oregon, claims the top spot in the men's preseason poll with 528 points and 17 of 19 first-place votes.
This poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independent/unaffiliated groups. The first regular-season poll will be announced Sept. 16.
The Columbia College women's squad received votes in the preseason 2015 NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll after finishing 29
th out of 38 teams at nationals last year.
For the complete Men's Cross Country ratings calendar, click
here.
For the entire 2015 Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll schedule, click
here.
