Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Cross Country Voted #1 in Men's and Women's Conference USA Poll
8/29/2024 12:02:00 PM | Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country
MURFREESBORO, TENN - The Middle Tennessee State University Men's and Women's Cross Country teams have both been voted as favorites to win Conference USA once again.
Both the men's and women's team earned six first place votes in the conference's preseason poll of the CUSA Cross Country coaches, edging out Liberty in both polls.
"We have a lot of young and new faces, so it will be interesting to see how they gel as a team," said Head Coach Keith Vroman. "It's great to be the preseason number one, but there is still work to do for this team to get better."
MTSU has won eight CUSA titles since 2017, and are coming off of a sweep of the 2023 CUSA Championships in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and will look to go back-to-back in both leagues.
On the women's side, MTSU is returning the third (Faith Nyathi) and 11th place (Eleanor Towe) finishers in the CUSA Cross Country Championship in 2023. They also have added superstars in Privillege Chikara (800M NJCAA Indoor National Champion) and Sandra Maiyo (10,000M 2024 Outdoor Conference USA Champion).
The men are returning the fourth (Vincent Yegon) and fifth place (Brian Kiptoo) finishers in the CUSA Cross Country Championships in 2023. They also have added the 12th place runner at the 2023 NJCAA Cross Country National Championship in Jacinto Gaspar, and the NJCAA Indoor National Champion in the mile in Abraham Valenzuela.
MTSU opens up their season on the road in West Tennessee for the Memphis Twilight Classic on August 31.
MEN's WOMEN's
8. WKU 25 8. Sam Houston 28
9. FIU 24 9. WKU 21
10. LA Tech 15 10. LA Tech 9
Both the men's and women's team earned six first place votes in the conference's preseason poll of the CUSA Cross Country coaches, edging out Liberty in both polls.
"We have a lot of young and new faces, so it will be interesting to see how they gel as a team," said Head Coach Keith Vroman. "It's great to be the preseason number one, but there is still work to do for this team to get better."
MTSU has won eight CUSA titles since 2017, and are coming off of a sweep of the 2023 CUSA Championships in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and will look to go back-to-back in both leagues.
On the women's side, MTSU is returning the third (Faith Nyathi) and 11th place (Eleanor Towe) finishers in the CUSA Cross Country Championship in 2023. They also have added superstars in Privillege Chikara (800M NJCAA Indoor National Champion) and Sandra Maiyo (10,000M 2024 Outdoor Conference USA Champion).
The men are returning the fourth (Vincent Yegon) and fifth place (Brian Kiptoo) finishers in the CUSA Cross Country Championships in 2023. They also have added the 12th place runner at the 2023 NJCAA Cross Country National Championship in Jacinto Gaspar, and the NJCAA Indoor National Champion in the mile in Abraham Valenzuela.
MTSU opens up their season on the road in West Tennessee for the Memphis Twilight Classic on August 31.
MEN's WOMEN's
- MTSU (6) 78 1. MTSU (6) 77
- Liberty (4) 76 2. Liberty (2) 73
- UTEP 59 3. Kennesaw St. (1) 55
- NM State 50 4. UTEP (1) 54
- Sam Houston 49 5. FIU 52
- Jax State 37 6. NM State 44
8. WKU 25 8. Sam Houston 28
9. FIU 24 9. WKU 21
10. LA Tech 15 10. LA Tech 9
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Cross Country and Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Cross Country and Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Cross Country and Track & Field
Distance
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