ROCK HILL, S.C. – Anderson men's cross country team secured a second-place spot on the South Atlantic Conference Coaches' Poll, as announced by the league on Wednesday.
 
"We're excited to see what this season has in store for us as we look to continue to build on last year's successes," said Head Cross Country Coach, Kevin Eagle.
 
The Trojans sit behind Wingate with 97 votes for the preseason poll. 
 
"We do not like to get ahead of ourselves, but these preseason rankings show us that we are set up to do well this year."
 
Three Trojans were named Runners to Watch as part of the preseason announcement, including sophomore Will Cronin, senior Elliot Dotson and graduate student Spain Vaughan.
 
 
Cronin competed in six races during the 2024 campaign. The 2024 SAC Freshman of the Year finished 12^th overall at the SAC Championships. He raced a PR 10k (30:53) at NCAA regionals finishing 16^th overall. Dotson competed in six races during the 2024 campaign and finished 13^th at the SAC Championships, earning All-SAC and All-Region honors. He went on to finish 7^th at the NCAA Regionals (29:38 10k). Vaughan competed in six meets during the 2024 campaign and finished 4^th at the SAC Championships, earning All-SAC and All-Region honors. At NCAA Regionals, he went on to finish 12^th with a personal best 30:21 10k.
 
AU Begins the 2025 season on Sept. 20 in Wingate, N.C. at the Wingate Invitational. 
 
The full release can be found here.
 
SAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank School (1st place votes) Points
1 Wingate (11) 110
2 Anderson (1) 97
3 Catawba 91
4 Lincoln Memorial 80
5 Lenoir-Rhyne 67
6 Emory & Henry 62
7t Carson-Newman 46
7t Mars Hill 46
9 UVA Wise 25
10 Newberry 19
11 Tusculum 17
12 Coker 12
 
Runners to Watch
Anderson
Elliot Dotson, Spain Vaughan, Will Cronin
Carson-Newman
Andrew Thompson, Bryson Burkett, Jase McCloskey
Catawba
Seth Caudill, Will Lyons
Coker
Jake Popowski, Cody Stewart
Emory & Henry
Miles Baldwin, Sam Tindall, Davis Norman, Jr.
Lincoln Memorial
Simon Filler, Jaxson Branham, Vaster Lance
Lenoir-Rhyne
Holden Hamlin, Chase Bryan
Mars Hill
Matthew O'Connor, Eli Taylor, Sean Sanchez, Brandon McNulty
Newberry
Tyler Shumate, Drew Benson
Tusculum
Harvey Anderson, Nathan Buckeridge, Albert Ziegler
UVA Wise
Jonah Adams, Dorian Almer, Chad Douglas
Wingate
Antonin Saint-Peyre, Luca Poppe, Lars Laros, Joaquin Campos