FOREST, Va. – Guilford College’s men’s cross country team received one first-place vote and was ranked fourth overall in the 2012 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Monday. The Quakers were picked ninth in the women’s rankings. Lynchburg College, which won last year’s men’s ODAC title and Bridgewater College, defending women’s champion, took the top spot in their respective polls.
Guilford’s men’s team returns four letter winners from the 2011 season. The Quakers took second in the ODAC Championships after a video tie-breaker between Lynchburg’s Brian Robinson and Guilford’s Tim Aune gave Lynchburg the one point needed for its fourth consecutive ODAC title. The Quakers placed fourth at the 2011 NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional Championships in San Antonio, Texas, tops in school history.
Junior Chad Norton (Walled Lake, Mich./Walled Lake) paces the returning men’s harriers for Guilford. He had six of the team’s seven-best times last season and received First Team All-ODAC honors as well as All-South and Division III All-Academic status. Other key veterans this year include junior David Cason (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) and senior Richard Rogers (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak).
Guilford’s women’s team has four returners from the 2011 season, including sophomore Jasmine O’Neill (Winston-Salem, N.C./Parkland). She was consistently the team’s second-best runner and ran her best six-kilometer time (25:46.50) at the ODAC Championships where she finished 31st. The Quakers finished seventh among eight teams in last year’s league championships.
Head coach Danny Cash’s teams open the 2012 season this Friday (8/31) evening at the Eastern Mennonite University Royals Invitational in a preview of this year’s ODAC Championships course in Harrisonburg, Va.
2012 ODAC WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL
(#) Denotes First Place Votes
1. Bridgewater (9) 81 pts. 2. Washington and Lee (1) 72 pts. 3. Virginia Wesleyan 55 pts. 4. Lynchburg 53 pts. 5. Shenandoah 50 pts. 6. Roanoke 45 pts. 7. Eastern Mennonite 41 pts. 8. Randolph 23 pts. 9. Guilford 17 pts. 10. Emory & Henry 13 pts.
2012 ODAC MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL
(#) Denotes First Place Votes
1. Lynchburg (8) 98 pts. 2. Bridgewater (2) 86 pts. 3. Roanoke 71 pts. 4. Guilford (1) 69 pts. 5. Virginia Wesleyan 65 pts. 6. Shenandoah 59 pts. 7. Eastern Mennonite 50 pts. 7. Washington and Lee 50 pts. 9. Hampden-Sydney 26 pts. 10. Emory & Henry 17 pts. 11. Randolph 14 pts.