Date Posted: 9/1/2005

Macon, Ga. - Three-time Atlantic Sun Champion Belmont University leads the 2005 Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll, receiving eight first place votes from the league's 11 head coaches. The league's three newcomers also broke into the top five rankings.

The Bruins received a total of 117 points, followed by Kennesaw State (94), Campbell (91), East Tennessee State (87) and North Florida (84) rounding out the top five.

"This season's ranking is based on last year's results and winning three straight conference titles," said head coach John Langdon. "It's going to be a totally different game for us this year."

Langdon noted that his five top finishers are not returning this season due to injuries and red-shirt status.

"We're a totally different team, which makes it wide open for the conference championship," said Langdon. "It's going to be even more competitive with three new teams entering the league and a lot of the unknown is going to be out there. But, we've added some good freshmen and we have enough good talent to win again this year if every thing goes well."

The Cross Country poll serves as the conference standings and is announced on the 1st and 15th of the month during the season.

The Atlantic Sun Cross Country Championship will be held Saturday, October 29, 2005. Campbell University will serve as host.

The 2005 Cross Country season gets underway this weekend. See the schedule below for this weekend's events.

2005 A-Sun Men's Cross Country Poll

1. Belmont 117
2. Kennesaw State 94
3. Campbell 91
4. ETSU 87
5. UNF 84
6. Gardner-Webb 62
7. Lipscomb 59
8. Florida Atlantic 51
9. Mercer 36
10. Jacksonville 29
11. Stetson 17

Coming up this week...

September 2
UNF at Appalachian State Invitational
Belmont at Belmont Opener
Lipscomb at Belmont Opener

September 3
Campbell at Campbell Invitational
Gardner-Webb at Campbell Invitational
Mercer at Campbell Invitational
ETSU at Virginia Tech Invitational
Florida Atlantic at Sailfish Invitational