FOREST, Va. – Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) cross country coaches selected Guilford College’s women’s team ninth and the men’s side 10th in the league’s annual preseason polls Thursday. The Quakers’ women collected 47 points in the 13-team ranking. Guilford’s men had 37 points in the 12-team ratings.
Washington and Lee University claimed the top spot in both the women’s and men’s polls. The University of Lynchburg and Bridgewater College were picked second and third, respectively, in the women’s rankings. Bridgewater and Lynchburg rounded out the top-three teams on the men’s side.
Guilford’s women return Samantha Brooks for her senior season. Brooks ran in five of six events last year and notched the fastest six-kilometer time of her career (27 minutes, 29.4 seconds) at the season-ending NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional Championships. The Quakers placed ninth at the 2017 ODAC Championships.
Guilford welcomes back senior Caleb Amstutz from last’s year’s men’s team, which finished eighth in last year’s league meet. Amstutz had Guilford’s top time in four of six events last fall. He ran a personal-best 27:30.1 on the eight-kilometer course at the 2017 NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional Championships.
Guilford opens its schedule September 8 at the Monarch Cross Country Classic hosted by Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Shenandoah University hosts the league meet October 27 in Winchester, Virginia.
2018 ODAC MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY – PRESEASON POLL
(#) Denotes First Place Votes
1. Washington and Lee University (11) 121 pts. 2. Bridgewater College (1) 110 pts. 3. University of Lynchburg 100 pts. 4. Roanoke College 89 pts. 5. Virginia Wesleyan University 76 pts. 6. Shenandoah University 74 pts. 7. Emory & Henry College 56 pts. 8. Eastern Mennonite University 51 pts. 9. Hampden-Sydney College 39 pts. 10. Guilford College 37 pts. 11. Randolph College 26 pts. 12. Ferrum College 13 pts.
2018 ODAC WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY – PRESEASON POLL
(#) Denotes First Place Votes
1. Washington and Lee University (10) 141 pts. 2. University of Lynchburg (2) 128 pts. 3. Bridgewater College 108 pts. 4. Shenandoah University (1) 108 pts. 5. Eastern Mennonite University 102 pts. 6. Roanoke College 99 pts. 7. Virginia Wesleyan University 82 pts. 8. Emory & Henry College 65 pts. 9. Guilford College 47 pts. 10. Randolph College 42 pts. 11. Sweet Briar College 31 pts. 12. Ferrum College 29 pts. 12. Hollins University 29 pts.