INDIANAPOLIS – Reigning champ Walsh stood tall at the top of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour that was released on Tuesday.
 
The Cavaliers commanded 11 first-place votes for a total of 143 points to lead 13 Great Midwest member institutions in the mix for a 2018 title.
 
Preseason runner-up Malone received the other two first-place votes and collected 133 points in the balloting. Tied for third with 117 points apiece was Cedarville and Hillsdale while Davis & Elkins rounded out the top five in the poll.
 
Findlay came in sixth, just two points behind D&E, while Ohio Valley opens up seventh and newcomer Tiffin is in eighth. Alderson Broaddus and Trevecca came in ninth and 10th and the remainder of the poll was filled out by Kentucky Wesleyan, Lake Erie and Ohio Dominican.
 
The Walsh men qualified as a team for the NCAA Championships last year in Evansville, Ind., and finished 22nd overall. Senior standout Jacob Kernell came on strong in the postseason and was the league’s top finisher at both the qualifying regional and the national championship.
 
Kernell clocked the sixth-best 10K time at the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by Cedarville with a time of 31:26.00 for a third-place finish. He also recorded a top-25 time at the Great Midwest Championships as the meet runner-up.
 
Defending his title as Great Midwest Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year is Rob Mizicko, who saw all five of his scorers finish in the top 13 runners at the conference championships. As a team, Walsh earned two of the best 10 team times in the 8K distance at the Ric Sayre Invitational and conference meet.
 
The talented senior trio of Kernell, Steven Kapes and Spencer Wirick -- were all first team all-conference performers in 2017 by virtue of their conference championship results. Kapes’ best 8K run was good for 24th all-time in the conference record books; his NCAA Regional run was also tied for 10th all-time.
 
This year’s conference championship will be conducted at GlenOak High School in Canton, Ohio, with Walsh serving as the host institution.
 
The Great Midwest will also enjoy a strong presence at the region with Hillsdale hosting this year’s edition after Cedarville entertained the league, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Great Lakes Valley Conference for the 2017 NCAA Midwest Regional.
 
The NCAA DII XC Championships will be held on Dec. 1 this year in Slippery Rock, Pa.
 

Great Midwest Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
 

School	Points
1. Walsh (11 first-place votes)	143
2. Malone (2 first-place votes)	133
t3. Cedarville	117
t3. Hillsdale	117
5. Davis & Elkins	93
6. Findlay	91
7. Ohio Valley	68
8. Tiffin	67
9. Alderson Broaddus	52
10. Trevecca	47
11. Kentucky Wesleyan	34
12. Lake Erie	27
13. Ohio Dominican	13