Aug. 27, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford men's and women's cross country teams have been projected to finish sixth in their first season in the Southern Conference. Conference officials release the preseason polls, voted on by Conference coaches, on Tuesday.

"It is definitely a good starting point," Samford head coach Rod Tiffin. "We hope to show steady improvement as the season goes along. The other teams don't know much about our program so we feel good to be ranked that high. We will do our best to improve on this ranking throughout the season."

The Appalachian State men and the Chattanooga women were predicted to win the 2008 Southern Conference Cross Country Championship.

The Mountaineer men, who received 10 of the 11 possible first-place votes and 100 overall points, return 11 runners including five of the top 15 finishers at the 2007 SoCon Championships.

The Furman men picked up the other first-place vote and 86 total points. The Paladins come off a third-place finish in last season's Championship meet and return eight runners off that team.

The Chattanooga women, who received 10 of the possible 12 first-place votes and 120 possible points, return 10 runners for last season's SoCon Championship team including three of the top 15 finishers of that meet.

Furman and Appalachian state split the final two first-place votes. The Paladins, who finished third at the 2007 Conference Championships, tallied 102 total points and return eight runners. The Mountaineers, who finished fourth at last year's Championships, received 95 total points and return 13 runners.

The 2008 SoCon Cross Country Championships will be held Nov. 1, in Spartanburg, S.C., at the Milliken Park.

Men
Team (#1 Votes) Points
1. Appalachian State (10) 100
2. Furman (1) 86
3. Chattanooga 80
4. UNC Greensboro 70
4. Davidson 70
6. Samford 48
7. Elon 46
8. Western Carolina 44
9. The Citadel 27
10. College of Charleston 24
11. Wofford 10

Women
Team (#1 Votes) Points
1. Chattanooga (10) 120
2. Furman (1) 102
3. Appalachian State (1) 95
4. Davidson 93
5. Elon 81
6. Samford 79
7. Western Carolina 59
8. College of Charleston 57
9. UNC Greensboro 37
10. The Citadel 34
11. Georgia Southern 19
12. Wofford 16