SEC Announces 2018 SEC Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Gators get preseason ranks from the SEC and the USTFCCCA with strong runners returning.

SEC Announces 2018 SEC Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Monday, August 27, 2018 | Cross Country

By: Corinne Simpson

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Florida's men were chosen to finish tied for 6th and the women were picked to finish 8th in the 2018 Southeastern Conference Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was unveiled this afternoon.

Last season the men registered a 10th place finish while the women finished at 13th at the conference meet.

The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) preseason regional rankings were also released this afternoon. The UF men will start the season ranked 6th and the women are 14th in the South Region. The Gators finished 15th and 22nd, respectively, last season at the NCAA South Regional.

On the men's side, the Gators lose a key contributor in Jack Beitter. He finished 77th at last year's conference championship with a season-best time of 25:48.80.

Despite the departure of Beitter, Florida returns a trio of key competitors in Jack Guyton, Colin Schaefer and Magnus Pettersen. All three runners redshirted last season, but posted top-100 finishes at the 2016 SEC Championships and NCAA South Regional Championships. Marshall Dillon and Jack Rogers provided a boost to the Gators lineup last season with top-50 finishes at the conference championships.

Matt Clark and Nick Deal were a pair of highly regarded freshman last season, but were redshirted. Clark and Deal allowing with Trevor Foley, an incoming freshman, who was a 5-time FL State Champion including the 2017 Cross Country gold medalist and a top-10 finish at the USATF Jr. XC Championships, should also help the continued improvement for the UF men.

For the women, All-SEC First Team and USTFCCCA All-South Region performer Elisabeth Bergh is back after redshirting last season and she will run alongside a strong contingent of returners in Jessica Pascoe, Morgan Hull and Caitlin McQuilkin-Bell. Bergh led the way with a 6th place finish at the 2016 SEC Championships and 9th at the NCAA South Regional, while Pascoe, Hull and McQuilkin-Bell all posted top-100 finishes at last year's conference meet.

Talented freshman, Grace Blair, and redshirt freshman Abbie Harrelson should make an immediate impact on the women's results as well. Blair won back-to-back individual cross country state titles in 2016 and 2017. She was a bronze medalist at the 2015 FHSAA Class 1A Cross Country Championships and took sixth as a seventh-grader in 2012 at Class 1A State after starting to run cross country for Oak Hall as a sixth-grader. Harrelson, who redshirted last year, finished her prep career as the runner-up at 2016 FHSAA Class 3A Cross Country Championship.

The Gators first meet of the season will take place Sept. 7, at the UNF Invitational in Jacksonville, Fla.

The full 2018 SEC Cross Country Coaches' Preseason Poll results, with first-place votes listed in parenthesis, are as follows:

MEN
Rank	Team	Points
1	Alabama (10)	12
2	Arkansas	20
3	Ole Miss	32
4	Tennessee	52
5	Kentucky	56
6	Florida	66
6	Texas A&M	66
8	Georgia	78
9	Missouri	83
10	Auburn	98
11	Vanderbilt	112
12	LSU	117

WOMEN
Rank	Team	Points
1	Arkansas (13)	13
2	Georgia (1)	27
3	Ole Miss	39
4	Mississippi State	71
5	Vanderbilt	73
6	Texas A&M	78
7	Alabama	87
8	Florida	92
9	Missouri	115
9	Tennessee	115
11	Kentucky	118
12	Auburn	126
13	South Carolina	158

Points for the men's poll were awarded on a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11 basis, while the women's poll was awarded on a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13 basis. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
The Alabama men were predicted to win the 2018 SEC Cross Country Championship. The Crimson Tide has won three SEC titles, most recently in 2009. Alabama garnered 10 first place votes.

The Arkansas women, who have won five consecutive SEC Cross Country Championships, were predicted to win the 2018 SEC Cross Country Championship. The Razorbacks received 13 first place votes.

The 2018 SEC Cross Country Championships are slated to take place Friday, Oct. 26 in Auburn, Ala.

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