Big South Conference Releases 2012 Cross Country Preseason Polls

Liberty's men and High Point's women, both 2011 Big South Cross Country Champions, were voted first by the League's head coaches.

The Flames' men, who are looking to win their eighth-straight Big South Cross Country title, were a unanimous selection as they finished with 144 points from the panel. High Point claimed the No. 2 spot in the poll with 132 points. In third was Campbell with 103 points and in fourth was VMI with 102 points. At the No. 5 position was Winthrop who collected 89 points, followed by Coastal Carolina with 84 points. Radford's 83 points was good for seventh and UNC Asheville's 65 points landed it at No. 8. Charleston Southern finished No. 9 with 49 points, ahead of Gardner-Webb with 43 points. Big South newcomer Longwood garnered 23 points to come in at No. 11 and Presbyterian College rounded out the men's poll with 18 points.

The Panthers' women collected seven first-place votes and 136 points. Liberty found itself at No. 2 with three top bids and 132 points. Coastal Carolina was selected third with one first-place vote and 123 points, followed by VMI with one top vote and 101 points. In fifth was Campbell with 100 points and Winthrop came in at the No. 6 slot with 77 points. UNC Asheville landed at No. 7 with 74 points, while Charleston Southern came in at the No. 8 position with 58 points. Gardner-Webb's 51 points was good for No. 9 and at No. 10 was Radford with 40 points. Longwood collected 28 points to finish No. 11 and Presbyterian College closed out the voting with 16 points.

PC opens up their cross country season Aug. 31 at the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, S.C. The Blue Hose have returned four of last year's top-5 runners to both teams and added three freshmen to each roster.  Sophomores Gabriele Lesieur (Augusta, Ga.) and Jessica Hatchell (Darlington, S.C.) look to lead the women's team this year while juniors Richard Taylor (Spartanburg, S.C.) and Seth Warner (Fort Mill, S.C.) will battle a handful of talented teammates for the men's top spots.  The Big South Men's and Women's Cross Country Conference Championships are slated for Saturday, Oct. 27, and will be hosted by Winthrop.

The preseason polls appear below.

Team (votes) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Points
1. Liberty (12) 144 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 144
2. High Point -- 132 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 132
3. Campbell -- -- 70 18 -- 14 -- -- -- -- -- 1 103
4. VMI -- -- 30 27 32 7 6 -- -- -- -- -- 102
5. Winthrop -- -- -- 27 32 14 12 -- 4 -- -- -- 89
6. Coastal -- -- 20 9 8 21 12 10 4 -- -- -- 84
7. Radford -- -- -- 18 24 14 18 5 4 -- -- -- 83
8. UNC A -- -- -- -- 8 7 12 30 8 -- -- -- 65
9. CSU -- -- -- -- -- -- 6 15 16 12 -- -- 49
10. GWU -- -- -- -- -- 7 -- -- 12 24 -- -- 43
11. Longwood -- -- -- -- -- -- 6 -- -- -- 12 5 23
12. PC -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 12 6 18

Team (votes) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Points
1. High Point (7) 84 22 30 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 136
2. Liberty (3) 36 66 30 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 132
3. Coastal (1) 12 44 40 27 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 123
4. VMI (1) 12 -- -- 18 64 7 -- -- -- -- -- -- 101
5. Campbell -- -- 10 54 16 14 6 -- -- -- -- -- 100
6. Winthrop -- -- -- 9 8 28 24 5 -- 3 -- -- 77
7. UNC A -- -- 10 -- 8 21 18 10 4 3 -- -- 74
8. CSU -- -- -- -- -- 14 24 10 4 -- 6 -- 58
9. GWU -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 30 12 9 -- -- 51
10. Radford -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 5 16 15 4 -- 40
11. Longwood -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 12 3 10 3 28
12. PC -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3 4 9 16