Cross Country Squads Release Schedules, A-10 Preseason Polls Announced :: UMass cross country teams will begin season on Sept. 13 at the Dartmouth Invitational.

UMass cross country teams will begin season on Sept. 13 at the Dartmouth Invitational.

Aug. 7, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. - With the opening of the 2008 the cross country season drawing near, University of Massachusetts head coaches Ken O'Brien and Julie LaFreniere have released the 2008 schedules for their respective teams and the Atlantic 10 has announced the preseason polls for both men's and women's cross country.

The Minutemen were tabbed third in the poll, which was based on the votes of the league's 14 head coaches, trailing only 2007 A-10 champion LaSalle and Richmond. On the women's side, UMass was picked sixth with Richmond claiming the top spot as the preseason favorite.

The season will begin on Sept. 13 for both the Minutemen and the Minutewomen as both squads will travel to Hanover, N.H., for the Dartmouth Invitational. The following weekend on Sept. 20, UMass will play host to a meet that will feature men's and women's teams from Maine and Vermont and two additional men's squads from Colgate and UConn.

UMass will start of the month of October by heading to Lehigh for the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 3 and follow up with trips to the New England Championships in Boston, Mass., and the Albany Invitational in Albany, N.Y., on Oct 11 and Oct. 18, respectively.

The Minutemen and Minutewomen will race for the A-10 crowns on Nov. 1 in Charlotte, N.C., with the hopes of building off their respective third- and sixth-place finishes from last season. Despite graduating individual champion Christina Derosa on the women's side, UMass is expected to return 2007 all-conference performer Shiyi Zan who placed 13th at the meet a year ago. Rising-junior Andrew McCann and rising-senior Jesse Regnier earned all-conference recognition for the Minutemen in 2007 after finishing seventh and 13th at the A-10 Championships.

To close out the season, UMass will run in the NCAA Regional Qualifier on Nov. 15 in the Bronx, N.Y., for the chance to compete in the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 24.

2008 Men's Cross Country Predicted Order Of Finish (2007 Championship Finish in parentheses)
1. La Salle (1st)
2. Richmond (2nd)
3. Massachusetts (3rd)
4. Duquesne (3rd)
5. Dayton (6th)
6. Charlotte (9th)
7. Saint Joseph's (5th)
8. Xavier (8th)
9. George Washington (7th)
10. Fordham (10th)
11. Saint Louis (12th)
12. Temple (11th)
13. Rhode Island (13th)
14. St. Bonaventure (14th)

2008 Women's Cross Country Predicted Order Of Finish (2007 Championship Finish in parentheses)
1. Richmond (2nd)
2. Charlotte (4th)
3. La Salle (1st)
4. Xavier (3rd)
5. Duquesne (5th)
6. Massachusetts (6th)
7. Saint Joseph's (8th)
8. Saint Louis (7th)
9. Dayton (10th)
10. Rhode Island (12th)
11. George Washington (9th)
12. Fordham (11th)
13. Temple (13th)
14. St. Bonaventure (14th)