APSU Sports Information
Brentwood, TN – The Ohio Valley Conference released its 2016 men’s and women’s cross country predicted order of finish, Wednesday, voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Austin Peay State University men’s team was ranked tied for ninth in the poll, while the women were predicted to finish 10th. Last season, the men’s and women’s teams each had three top three finishes, including wins in the annual Austin Peay Cross Country Festival.
On the men’s side, the Govs will be led by three seniors with ample experience – Daniel Hamm, Kyle Harmon and Martin Rejman.
Rejman and Gray combined to finish first and second, respectively, in last year’s APSU Cross Country Festival, while Gray was the highest finisher among APSU runners at the OVC Championship (31st).
Eastern Kentucky, coming off its 10th championship in a row, was picked to win the men’s title (121 points, 11 first-place votes). Eastern Illinois (107) was ranked second, followed by Belmont (98), SIU Edwardsville (82), Morehead State (79), Southeast Missouri (72), Tennessee Tech (60, 1 first-place vote), Murray State (55), Austin Peay and UT Martin (42), Jacksonville State (23) and Tennessee State (11).
Senior Unjala Lester returns as the top flight runner on the women’s team, coming off a solid campaign. In addition, the Govs will welcome back experienced athletes in Sarah Carpenter, Becca Wheeler, Hanna Wise and Sarah-Emily Woodward, who will look to create a strong contingent in 2016.
For the women, EKU was again a runaway favorite to repeat as champions, earning 120 points and 10 first-place votes. Eastern Illinois was selected in second (108, 2 first-place votes), followed by Southeast Missouri (95), Murray State (87), Belmont (81), UT Martin (64), Morehead State (63), SIUE (55), Tennessee Tech (51), Austin Peay (33), Jacksonville State (24) and Tennessee State (11).
The season gets underway, September 3rd, as both teams travel to Nashville for the Belmont Opener.
