ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The South Atlantic Conference has announced its preseason coaches polls and Runners to Watch list for the 2022 cross country season.

The Tusculum men are picked to finish sixth while the Pioneer women were chosen seventh in their poll, which were voted on by the league's 13 head coaches.

The SAC Championship will be hosted by Catawba on Saturday, November 5 at Salisbury Community Park in Salisbury, North Carolina.

MEN'S POLL
The Pioneers were seventh in last year's SAC Championship meet and return three of their top five finishers. Selected as Runners to Watch were junior Ray Richardson along with sophomores Bryson Livesay and Gideon Dowling.

Richardson (Johnson City, Tenn.) is the Pioneers' top returning SAC finisher, having taken 39th overall in 26:08.1. Livesay (Jonesborough, Tenn.) was the Pioneers' fourth runner at the SAC meet in 26:40.1 while Dowling (Jonesborough, Tenn.) was 54th overall at 26:51.9. All three ran at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet, with Richardson placing 46th overall, Livesay in 86th place and Dowling in 105th as the Pioneers took 11th out of 23 teams.

Defending SAC and regional champion Wingate took 12 first place votes and is ranked first in the poll with 144 points, with Anderson second at 125 points. Catawba had the other first-place vote and is third with 124 points, trailed by Lincoln Memorial (111 points) in fourth, Lenoir-Rhyne (104) in fifth and the Pioneers (89) in sixth.

Carson-Newman is ranked seventh with 72 points, followed by Limestone (69 points) in eighth, Coker (50) in ninth and Newberry (49) in tenth. The rest of the poll consists of Mars Hill in 11th with 31 points, league newcomer Emory & Henry in 12th at 27 points and UVA Wise in 13th at 19 points.

WOMEN'S POLL
Last season, the Pioneers finished eighth at the SAC Championship and placed all five of their runners inside the top 60. Returning for the Pioneers this season are juniors Emily Coddington and Judy Chellah along with senior Erin Bruce, who have made the Runners to Watch list for the 2022 SAC season.

Coddington (Acosta, Pa.) was the top finisher for the Pioneers at last year's SAC Championship meet, placing 28th overall in 23:15.8. Bruce (Jonesborough, Tenn.) was 57th overall in 25:43.1 and Chellah (Johnson City, Tenn.) took 58th with a time of 25:54.3. All three ran at the NCAA Southeast Regional, with Coddington leading the Pioneers to a 13th place finish by taking 28th in the field of 155 runners.

Wingate is the reigning conference champion and took first in the preseason poll with 144 points, earning 12 first-place votes. Anderson (126 points) is second, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne in third with the other first-place vote and 123 points. Catawba (112 points) is fourth, followed by Lincoln Memorial (101) in fifth and Carson-Newman (88) in sixth.

The Pioneers are seventh with 82 points in the preseason poll, trailed by Newberry (66 points), Limestone (48) in ninth, UVA Wise (45) in tenth and Coker (30) in 11th place. League newcomer Emory & Henry is 12th with 26 points, with Mars Hill (23 points) rounding out the ranking.

South Atlantic Conference Cross Country
Preseason Coaches Polls
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WOMEN