GREENWOOD, Ind. – The newest league member is expected to make an early splash after Malone University topped the 2016 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour on Thursday.
The Pioneers enter their first official year one with the G-MAC as the predetermined favorite following a vote among the league’s seven head coaches.
Malone was a unanimous selection while receiving a total of six first-place votes and 36 points in the overall balloting.
The Pioneers’ men have earned runner-up finishes to only Grand Valley State in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for four consecutive seasons.
Malone senior Nate Boyer clocked his best 8K time of 25:00 in 2015 as the Pioneers completed their final year with the GLIAC. Boyer’s time would have ranked 11th all-time in G-MAC history.
The 2016 G-MAC Cross Country Championships are also being conducted in Canton, Ohio, on the campus of Malone.
The G-MAC has still yet to see a champion other than the Cedarville Yellow Jackets, picked runner-up for the second straight year despite winning the program’s third consecutive G-MAC title last fall.
Cedarville finished with 30 points and was followed by 2015 preseason conference favorite Trevecca Nazarene in third with 27 points. The Yellow Jackets received one first-place vote.
Cedarville overcame the No. 2 preseason billing last year as standout Benjamin Tuttle ran his way to NCAA DII All-American, G-MAC Runner of the Year and G-MAC Male Collegiate Achievement awards.
Last year’s host of the G-MAC Cross Country Championships, Davis & Elkins, grabbed preseason fourth while Ohio Valley and Kentucky Wesleyan each tied for fifth in the poll, respectively. Alderson Broaddus was voted seventh to round out the coaches’ selections.
The G-MAC will be publishing a comprehensive season preview of men’s cross country on Thursday, Sept. 1. Interviews with the league’s coaches and select student-athletes will be available.
2016 G-MAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
| School |
Points |
| 1. Malone (6 first-place votes) |
36 |
| 2. Cedarville (1 first-place vote) |
30 |
| 3. Trevecca Nazarene |
27 |
| 4. Davis & Elkins |
19 |
| t5. Kentucky Wesleyan |
12 |
| t5. Ohio Valley |
12 |
| 7. Alderson Broaddus |
11 |