Murray State University Athletics
Women's Cross Country Team Tabbed OVC Preseason Favorites
8/17/2009 3:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
The Murray State women's cross country team has been selected to finish first in the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll. The women's cross country team earned 79 points and seven of the 10 first place votes. The men's team has been selected to finish tied for seventh, as they earned 30 points in the annual poll that was voted on by the conference's head coaches.
The women's team, which finished second at three of their six meets last season, including a second place finish at the OVC Championships, returns three of the top eight runners at last season's OVC Championships. Katelyn Jones finished 3rd with a time of 18:47.7 while Taylor Crawford (19:00.2) and Karissa Magnuson (19:09.4) finished 7th and 8th, respectively.
"I am pleased to see that our peers in the OVC thought enough of us to vote as the preseason favorite," said Coach Chris England. "This is a team of hard workers with a lot of school spirit. They will work hard to represent Murray State well."
The women's team has continued to grow and move forward during the England era as they look for their first OVC Championship since winning back-to-back titles in 1980-81.
On the men's side, the Racers will look for strong leadership from seniors Jack Findley, Andrew Beckman and Andrew Smithson. Beckman and his teammates will look to improve on last year's season in which they finished eighth at the OVC Championships.
"The Men's Cross Country team continues to improve, as well," England said. "In just three years the men have gone from a team too sparse to score, to 10th place, to ninth place and are now picked to finish in seventh place in the OVC. These men work hard and have a lot of pride."
"Both teams have earned a lot of respect among our peers in the OVC."
Murray State will kick-off its season Sept. 4th in the Belmont Opener, hosted by the Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. with a start time slated for 5:30 p.m.
The women's cross country team joins the women's soccer and volleyball teams as OVC preseason favorites this season.
TEAM (first-place votes) POINTS
1. Murray State (7) 79
2. Eastern Kentucky (2) 74
3. Southeast Missouri State (1) 66
4. Eastern Illinois 57
5. Tennessee Tech 41
6. Austin Peay 40
7. Jacksonville State 32
Morehead State 32
9. UT Martin 20
10. Tennessee State 10
(Teams awarded 9 points for a first-place vote, 8 for second, etc.)
Complete OVC Men's Preseason Poll
TEAM (8 first-place votes) POINTS
1. Eastern Kentucky (8) 80
2. Eastern Illinois (1) 74
3. Southeast Missouri State (1) 69
4. Morehead State 61
5. Jacksonville State 49
6. Austin Peay 37
7. Murray State 30
Tennessee Tech 30
9. UT Martin 18
10. Tennessee State 10
(Teams awarded 9 points for a first-place vote, 8 for second, etc.)
