Mars Hill Men, Lenoir-Rhyne Women Selected as SAC Cross Country Preseason Favorites

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Mars Hill men's and Lenoir-Rhyne women's cross country programs have earned No. 1 rankings in the 2013 SAC preseason coaches' polls. Mars Hill has won a SAC-record 16-straight men's conference titles, while Lenoir-Rhyne has captured three of the past five women's championships.

In the men's preseason poll, Mars Hill received the highest possible number of first-place votes – 11 – under the voting structure. The Lions were dominant at last season's Food Lion SAC Cross Country Championship, winning the team title by 70 points over second-place Wingate.

The Bulldogs are second in the 2013 preseason poll and received the other first-place vote. WU is followed by Lenoir-Rhyne, Lincoln Memorial, Brevard and SAC-newcomer Queens. L-R, LMU and BC finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, at last season's SAC Championship.

Continuing the men's poll is Anderson at No. 7, Tusculum at No. 8 and Newberry at No. 9. Anderson placed sixth, Tusculum seventh and Newberry eighth at the 2012 SAC Championship.

Completing the men's poll are No. 11 Coker and No. 12 Carson-Newman. Coker placed seventh at last year's Conference Carolinas Championship, while Carson-Newman finished 10th at the SAC Championship.

Lenoir-Rhyne earned the top spot in the women's preseason poll after winning the 2012 SAC Championship by a margin of 10 points over runner-up Wingate. The Bears received nine first-place votes in the poll, while second-ranked WU got two.

Anderson is third in the poll, followed by No. 4 Mars Hill and No. 5 Queens, which also received one first-place vote. AU finished third at last year's SAC Championship, Mars Hill placed fourth, and Queens finished 10th at the Conference Carolinas Championship.

Lincoln Memorial is sixth in the preseason poll, Brevard is seventh, Carson-Newman is eighth and Catawba is ninth. Those teams placed fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, at the 2012 SAC Championship.

Tusculum is No. 10 in the poll, followed by No. 11 Coker and No. 12 Newberry. Tusculum finished ninth and Newberry 10th last year at the SAC Championship, while Coker placed 12th at the Conference Carolinas Championship.

Also announced on Thursday was the SAC Men's and Women's Preseason All-Conference Teams, which are headlined by returning SAC Runners of the Year Steve Hammond and Keeley Wood of Wingate.

Joining Hammond on the men's First Team are Tusculum's David Cooper, LMU's Bradley Maldonado, Lenoir-Rhyne's Aaron Nelson and Mars Hill's Cesar Reyes, Brady Adcock and Alex Griggs – the 2012 SAC Freshman of the Year.

Completing the women's First Team are Mars Hill's Kristen Trammel, Anderson's Sydney Hazel, Lenoir-Rhyne's Marie Mauhar and Laura Rhyne, and Brevad's Hannah Cook – last year's SAC Freshman of the Year – and Angela Canale.

The 2013 Food Lion SAC Cross Country Championship will take place on October. 26 in Black Mountain, N.C.

[Complete SAC Cross Country Preseason All-Conference Teams]

2013 SAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll

2013 SAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll