FOREST, Va. – With the 2015-16 academic year set to commence this week, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference has announced the men’s cross country preseason coaches’ poll. A vote of the league’s 11 head coaches comprised the survey and sees Emory & Henry College set to finsh in sixth-place after a finish of fifth in 2014.

Head Coach Tom Antenucci, now in his fourth year, returns 10 runners from last season’s squad and welcomes a pair of freshmen, who will be eager to push the Wasps into the top four in the league.

Highlighting the returners this season for the Wasps are juniors Alex Cooper (Christiansburg, Va.) and Kevin Watts (Stafford, Va.) and sophomore Michael Cawood (Louisville, Ky.). The trio comprised the top three runners for E&H in nearly every meet last year with Cawood leading the way at the 2014 ODAC Championships, finishing 21st. Cooper was the Wasps’ top runner at the regional meet in a personal-best time of 27:42.

“We return our top 10 runners from last year including Alex and Michael who were 21st and 23rd at ODACs,” said Antenucci. “With at least five runners poised to run below 28 minutes for 8K, we have a huge opportunity to improve this year.”

Joining Emory & Henry this fall are two local freshmen who will vie for spots in the top seven over the course of the season in Zane Moran (Floyd, Va.) and Austin Tolbert (Wytheville, Va.).

"With the addition of these two freshmen our depth will be better than at any time in program history,” Antenucci added. “Both Zane and Austin will make an immediate impact and have the opportunity to be part of our top seven by the end of the season."

Bridgewater College is picked to earn its third consecutive league championship this year, earning nine first place votes. Washington and Lee University is second, earning the final two top node while Eastern Mennonite University, Roanoke College and Lynchburg College round out the top five.

Emory & Henry will begin the season on Tuesday, September 1 Salem, Virginia, to compete against Roanoke College in the New River Trail Time Trial. This year, Bridgewater will be the host of the ODAC Championships which will take place on Saturday, October 31.

For more information about ODAC Men's Cross Country and to learn about each of the league's 11 teams, click HERE.

---E&H---

-photo courtesy of Sandi Greene