ABILENE – Abilene Christian's women's and men's cross country teams were ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional preseason rankings released Tuesday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The Wildcats men's team finished second at the 2010 regional meet and polled 20th nationally, but begin the 2011 campaign without the services of all-America and Lone Star Conference Runner of the Year Amos Sang. The native Kenyan won individual championships at the conference and regional levels before placing ninth at the NCAA DII national championship meet.
Veterans Will Pike and Jake Schofield are among the top returning Wildcats, and along with junior Spencer Lynn, they will help form a tight corps that also includes former junior college All-American James Grantham, and highly touted international students Fabian Wessel-Terharn from Germany and Sweden's Daniel Gleimar.
On the women's side, the Wildcats will be led by juniors Chole Susset of France and Katy's Alyse Goldmsith. A year ago, Susset finished third at the conference cross country meet with a 4.5K time of 16:29.76 while Goldsmith placed fifth in 16:35.64.
ACU, under second year head coach Chris Woods, begins its season Thursday, Sept. 1 at Baylor for the Bear Twilight Invite. The women's 4K starts at 7 p.m. with a men's 6K to follow. Both races will take place at the Heart of Texas Soccer Complex.
