August 31, 2016

C-N women picked fourth in SAC preseason poll

ROCK HILL, S.C.-- Following a fourth-place finish at the South Atlantic Conference Championships during the tail-end of the 2015 season, the Carson-Newman women’s cross country team has been selected to the fourth-slot of the SAC preseason poll, the league announced Wednesday morning.

ROCK HILL, S.C.-- Following a fourth-place finish at the South Atlantic Conference Championships during the tail-end of the 2015 season, the Carson-Newman women's cross country team has been selected to the fourth-slot of the SAC preseason poll, the league announced Wednesday morning.

The Eagles, who garnered 86 points in the voting process, fell behind Wingate, Queens and Anderson who claimed the top-three spots in that respected order. Following C-N in fourth-place was Coker, Lincoln Memorial and Catawba as the three schools were picked fifth-eighth while Mars Hill, Lenoir-Rhyne, Tusculum, Brevard and Newberry rounded out the 12-teamed poll.

The Bulldogs, who claimed the top-preseason honor, is coming off its third-consecutive SAC Championship in 2015 after placing a league-best eight runners in the top-16 at the Championships. Alyssa Johnson compiled a second-place overall finish for the Bulldogs in the meet and will lead the charge once again as Wingate claimed 11 first-place votes in the poll.

Queens was the only other SAC school to receive a first-place vote in the preseason tally as the Royals had one en route to 119 total votes. In third, Anderson totaled 101 votes while C-N garnered 86 in fourth-place. Coker finished with 76 votes in fifth while LMU tallied 73 in sixth, Catawba 62 votes in seventh and Mars Hill 51 votes in eighth. L-R finished off with 45 votes in ninth-place and Tusculum finished with 29 votes. Brevard and Newbery, who were picked 11^th and 12^th, respectively, claimed 17 and 11 votes total.

Carson-Newman will welcome back an experienced group of runners for the 2016 season that are led by sophomore Pricah Jemeli (Eldorett, Kenya). As a freshman in the 2015 season, Jemeli claimed two individual wins and was named to the All-SAC Freshman squad come season's end. The Eldorett, Kenya native finished ninth out of 90-plus runners at the SAC Championships a year ago.

The Eagles will also have the luxury of returning Hannah Green (Talbott, Tenn.), who tallied seven, second-place finishes on the team behind Jemeli last year, and finished first on the squad in the Southeast Regional Meet in 2015's postseason play.

Another notable returner back for a 2016 campaign is senior Sarah Honaker (Mason, Ohio) who has compiled to compete in 18 meets over her three-year tenure in Mossy Creek. Honaker is the longest-tenured runner on the women's side.

First-year Carson-Newman cross country coach Tyler Stepp looks for continued progress on the women's team throughout the entire 2016 season.

"I feel that those preseason rankings are certainly fair considering our performance last season," Stepp said. "We feel out women's team has a lot of depth and can really take a large step forward with the addition of our new assistant coach, Christian Brewer."

"Overall, I'm really looking forward to what this season holds," Stepp said.

Carson-Newman is set to kick off the 2016 cross country season on Sept. 9 at the Tusculum Open. Stay tuned into cneagles.com for continual coverage of C-N cross country throughout the season.

Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll

Rank	Team	Points
1	Wingate (11)	121
2	Queens (1)	119
3	Anderson	101
4	Carson-Newman	86
5	Coker	76
6	Lincoln Memorial	73
7	Catawba	62
8	Mars Hill	51
9	Lenoir-Rhyne	45
10	Tusculum	29
11	Brevard	17
12	Newberry	11