Norwich Leads Pack in 2017 GNAC Cross Country Preseason Polls

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WINTHROP, Mass. – The Norwich University men and women have been selected first in the 2017 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Cross Country Preseason Polls, it was announced on Wednesday morning. The league’s 12 head coaches took part in the voting.

The GNAC will also conduct pre-championship polls the week prior to the 2017 GNAC Championships, which will be hosted by Johnson & Wales University (RI) at Colt State Park in Bristol, R.I. on Saturday, October 28.

For the complete poll results, please see below.

Norwich swept the men’s and women’s races at the 2016 GNAC Championships at Franklin Park in Boston. The Norwich men have now won each of the last two GNAC titles, while JWU will look to reclaim glory in 2017 having won five conference crowns in a seven-year span from 2008-14. On the women’s side, Emmanuel College laid claim to the GNAC Championship in 2013 and 2015, with Norwich proving victorious in 2014 and 2016.

The Norwich men saw its own runners finish second through fifth at least year’s championship race, and in the poll collected nine of a possible 10 first-place votes. Emmanuel College placed second with 86 points and JWU was third with 82 points and one first-place tally. Saint Joseph’s of Maine was fourth with 71 points, while Regis (Mass.) and Suffolk University shared fifth place with 51 points apiece.

On the women’s side, Norwich student-athletes placed finishers in fourth, fifth, 11th and 12th places at last year’s event. The Cadets earned nine first-place votes, while last year’s GNAC runner-up (via tiebreak) Simmons College was second with two first-place nods and 128 points overall. Emmanuel was third with 118 points, while this year’s host JWU and Suffolk rounded out the poll’s top-five with 95 and 85 points, respectively.

2016 GNAC CHAMPIONSHIP Results: WOMEN | MEN

2017 GNAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
1. Norwich (9) – 99
2. Emmanuel – 86
3. Johnson & Wales (1) – 82
4. Saint Joseph's of Maine – 71
T5. Regis (Mass.) – 51
T5. Suffolk – 51
7. Lasell – 46
8. Mount Ida – 23
9. Rivier – 21
10. Anna Maria – 20

2017 GNAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll
1. Norwich (9) – 141
2. Simmons (2) – 128
3. Emmanuel (1) – 118
4. Johnson & Wales – 95
5. Suffolk – 85
6. Saint Joseph (Conn.) – 84
7. Saint Joseph's of Maine – 77
8. Regis (Mass.) – 76
9. Lasell – 56
10. Mount Ida – 28
11. Rivier – 27
12. Anna Maria – 21

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and nearly 4,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

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