FOREST, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Football Team has been picked to finish in a three-way tie for second in the 2015 Old Dominion Athletic Conference season, ODAC officials announced Friday. The league's eight football coaches are the voters in the poll.

Coming off of an 8-2 (5-2 ODAC) season and four-way tie for first place in 2014, it is the first time since 2009 that the Wasps have been picked to finish as runners-up in conference play.

Emory & Henry, under second-year Head Coach Curt Newsome, returns five All-ODAC players from last year's team and a total of 11 starters on offense and defense. The Wasps will have to replace many of their specialists, who graduated in the spring.

Leading the returners on offense is sophomore quarterback Kevin Saxton (Monroe, N.C.), the 2014 ODAC Rookie of the Year. Saxton threw for 2,707 yards and 25 touchdowns, completing 61.5 percent (238-of-387) of his passes on the year. Sophomore running back Chris Thompson (Blue Ridge, Va.) rushed for 597 yards and seven touchdowns en route to All-ODAC Third Team accolades.

On the defensive side of the ball, senior linebacker Rennel Marshall (Liberty, Va.) was the team's second-leading tackler (85 tackles) and also made 9.5 tackles for loss, picked off two passes, forced two fumbles and scored a defensive extra point en route to being named Second Team All-ODAC. Junior defensive end Jaylen Simmons (Johnson City, Tenn.) (39 tackles, 14.5 TFL) and junior defensive back Tre'von Lightfoot (Big Island, Va.) (38 tackles, 2 INT) received third team recognition a year ago.

Guilford College finds itself atop the poll for the first time since 1995, earning seven first-place votes. The Quakers also went 8-2 (5-2 ODAC) a year ago to tie for first place in the league.

Joining the Wasps in a tie for second place are Hampden-Sydney College and Bridgewater College. The Tigers, who claimed the final first-place vote, earned their fifth ODAC title in the last eight years in 2014 and reached the NCAA Division III Playoffs for the fourth time since 2009.

In fifth place is Randolph-Macon College while Washington and Lee University is sixth. Shenandoah University occupies the number seven position while the Catholic University of America rounds out the poll in eighth.

Emory & Henry will begin the 2015 campaign on Saturday, September 5 when it hosts Ferrum College at Fred Selfe Stadium at 1:00 p.m. It will be the 10th-straight season that the Wasps and Panthers have opened the season together on the gridiron. The 2015 induction class of the E&H Sports Hall of Fame will also be honored at halftime.

To read the full ODAC Coaches Poll release from the ODAC, please click HERE.

To access the 2015 ODAC Football Virtual Media Guide, please click HERE.

2015 ODAC FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL

(#) Denotes first place votes

---E&H---