Nine days before their first race of the season, the Elon University women's cross country team got a bit of a boost from the Southern Conference coaches.
The Phoenix women were picked to finish first in the conference in 2012, earning the first-place vote of seven of the twelve SoCon coaches and 115 points. The lady runners at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the defending champions, finished second in the polling with two first-place votes and 103 points.
Elon returns three of their top four runners in seniors Christine Pacewicz and Emily Tryon and junior Allyson Oram on the women's side, which finished third at the SoCon Championships in 2011.
The men were polled to finish seventh in the conference, earning 49 points. The defending champions, the men's side of UNCG cross county, garnered nine of eleven first-place votes and 99 points.
Both men and women open their season Aug. 31 in Winston-Salem, N.C., at the Wake Forest Relays. The SoCon Championships are Oct. 27 in Charleston, S.C.
[box]2012 Cross Country Preseason Polls Men 1. UNCG (9) – 99 points 2. Appalachian State – 86 points 3. Davidson (2) – 81 points 4. Furman – 76 points 5. Chattanooga – 65 points 6. Western Carolina – 54 points 7. Elon – 49 points 8. Samford – 31 points 9. College of Charleston – 30 points 10. Wofford – 18 points 11. The Citadel – 16 points
Women 1. Elon (7) – 115 points 2. UNCG (2) – 103 points 3. Appalachian State (1) – 99 points 4. Furman (2) – 88 points 5. Samford – 84 points 6. Davidson – 67 points 7. Western Carolina – 61 points 8. College of Charleston – 55 points 9. Chattanooga – 48 points 10. Wofford – 35 points 11. Georgia Southern – 20 points 12. The Citadel – 17 points
*Numbers in parentheses are first-place votes.[/box]