Guilford Tabbed Sixth and Seventh in ODAC Cross Country Polls
Greensboro, N.C. (8/27/07) -- Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) cross country coaches chose Guilford College's men's team sixth in the league's preseason poll Monday. Guilford's women's team was picked seventh.
Washington and Lee, the defending men's and women's champions, topped both polls. Lynchburg occupied the third position in both the men's and women's polls. Roanoke, which finished only nine points behind the Generals in the women's poll, returns three of the conference's top seven runners. On the men's side, Bridgewater came in at a close second, receiving two first-place votes.
Head coach Jamie LaFollette enters his second season at the helm of the Quakers' cross country team with 14 returning letter winners. Last season, Guilford made its best showing at the ODAC Championships in its three-year history. Sophomore Charissa Duncan was Guilford's top finisher in all but one of the team's eight races last season. She is the Quakers' top returning female harrier. On the men's side, Jeremy Bante and Brett McDonough are the lone seniors and on pace to become the first four-year letter winners in the program's history.
Both Quakers' squads open their seasons Saturday at the Marlin Invitational, hosted by Virginia Wesleyan. The men's and women's teams will compete Sept. 8 in the Washington and Lee Invitational.