Men's Cross Country Tabbed Preseason ASUN Favorites, Jubran Selected Preseason Runner of the Year
8/25/2021 2:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Women's Team Picked to Finish Sixth
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida's men's cross country team was selected first in the ASUN Preseason rankings released Wednesday afternoon by the league's 12 coaches.
"Preseason polls are nice, but we know there are numerous good teams returning, as well as those new to the ASUN," head coach Jeff Pigg said about the preseason poll. "Our focus will continue to be clean living and hard work. We look forward to the opportunities to race this year."
The UNF men's team won the ASUN Championship during the spring season and had five of their runners finish in the top six of the meet. Four of those five runners will be returning this season looking to defend the conference title once again.
Lipscomb was picked second in the preseason poll with 122 points and Liberty filled out the top three with 118 points. The Ospreys also grabbed 11 first-place votes with Eastern Kentucky receiving one first-place vote.
Senior Nathan Jubran was also named the Men's Preseason Runner of the Year by the ASUN conference on Wednesday. This is the second time that he has been selected as the ASUN's Preseason XC Runner of the Year with his first being before the 2019 season.
Jubran won the individual title at the ASUN Championship meet this past season with a time of 24:38.4 and qualified as an individual for the national championship meet in Stillwater, Okla. last season. He became the first men's cross country runner in program history to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
The hometown product has an impressive cross country resume as an Osprey leading up to this upcoming season with three All-ASUN First-Team selections, four ASUN Runner of the Week selections, two Preseason All-ASUN Runner of the Year selections, and was selected this past spring as the ASUN Runner of the Year.
For the women's cross country team, they were selected by the coaches to finish in sixth with 89 total points, which is above in-state opponents FGCU (68), Jacksonville (35), and Stetson (34). Liberty, the reigning conference champion, was picked to win the conference with 143 total points and 11 first-place votes.
The women's team this past spring had three different top individuals for each meet that they ran, including senior Camryn Cooney and sophomore Mia McLain who will be returning to compete this season.
They finished third in last season's ASUN Championship and will be looking to win the conference title this November for the first time since 2017.
North Florida will open their season in Tallahassee, Fla. at the FSU XC Open on Sept. 17.
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PRESEASON MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACHES POLL
Fan-Voted Preseason Runner of the Year - Devin Berry, North Alabama
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PRESEASON WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACHES POLL
Fan-Voted Preseason Runner of the Year - Sharon Chepseba, North Alabama
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"Preseason polls are nice, but we know there are numerous good teams returning, as well as those new to the ASUN," head coach Jeff Pigg said about the preseason poll. "Our focus will continue to be clean living and hard work. We look forward to the opportunities to race this year."
The UNF men's team won the ASUN Championship during the spring season and had five of their runners finish in the top six of the meet. Four of those five runners will be returning this season looking to defend the conference title once again.
Lipscomb was picked second in the preseason poll with 122 points and Liberty filled out the top three with 118 points. The Ospreys also grabbed 11 first-place votes with Eastern Kentucky receiving one first-place vote.
Senior Nathan Jubran was also named the Men's Preseason Runner of the Year by the ASUN conference on Wednesday. This is the second time that he has been selected as the ASUN's Preseason XC Runner of the Year with his first being before the 2019 season.
Jubran won the individual title at the ASUN Championship meet this past season with a time of 24:38.4 and qualified as an individual for the national championship meet in Stillwater, Okla. last season. He became the first men's cross country runner in program history to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
The hometown product has an impressive cross country resume as an Osprey leading up to this upcoming season with three All-ASUN First-Team selections, four ASUN Runner of the Week selections, two Preseason All-ASUN Runner of the Year selections, and was selected this past spring as the ASUN Runner of the Year.
For the women's cross country team, they were selected by the coaches to finish in sixth with 89 total points, which is above in-state opponents FGCU (68), Jacksonville (35), and Stetson (34). Liberty, the reigning conference champion, was picked to win the conference with 143 total points and 11 first-place votes.
The women's team this past spring had three different top individuals for each meet that they ran, including senior Camryn Cooney and sophomore Mia McLain who will be returning to compete this season.
They finished third in last season's ASUN Championship and will be looking to win the conference title this November for the first time since 2017.
North Florida will open their season in Tallahassee, Fla. at the FSU XC Open on Sept. 17.
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PRESEASON MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACHES POLL
- North Florida (11) | 143 pts
- Lipscomb | 122 pts
- Liberty | 118 pts
- Eastern Kentucky (1) | 115 pts
- Central Arkansas | 95 pts
- North Alabama | 79 pts
- Stetson | 67 pts
- FGCU | 60 pts
- Kennesaw State | 54 pts
- Bellarmine | 46 pts
- Jacksonville | 21 pts
- Jacksonville State | 16 pts
Fan-Voted Preseason Runner of the Year - Devin Berry, North Alabama
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PRESEASON WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACHES POLL
- Liberty (11) | 143 pts
- Lipscomb | 122 pts
- Eastern Kentucky (1) | 115 pts
- Central Arkansas | 110 pts
- Kennesaw State | 99 pts
- North Florida | 89 pts
- FGCU | 68 pts
- Bellarmine | 54 pts
- North Alabama | 49 pts
- Jacksonville | 35 pts
- Stetson | 34 pts
- Jacksonville State | 18 pts
Fan-Voted Preseason Runner of the Year - Sharon Chepseba, North Alabama
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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Ospreys 2016-2017 Year-in-Review
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2017 Student-Athlete Banquet Highlights
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2016-2017 UNF Student Athlete Awards Banquet - Senior Send-Off
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