Aug. 22, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle men's cross country team was predicted to finish fifth in this season's Atlantic 10 Championship by a vote of the conference's head coaches, announced Friday by the league office.
The Explorers also finished fifth in last year's championship, led by all-conference runner Korey Edwards who placed 10th in the individual standings. Edwards returns to the cross country course after a stellar junior campaign in which he earned an eighth place overall finish out of 306 runners at the prestigious Penn State National Open in October in addition to his all-conference honor.
Trevon Rainford also returns for his senior season with the Explorers. Rainford ran to a 22nd place finish at last year's conference championship and also competed in the Penn State National where he placed 30th overall. He rounded out the 2008 season with a team-leading 23rd place at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, earning him All-District honors.
Both Edwards and Rainford were also members of the 4x800 meter relay team that set two consecutive school records at the IC4A Outdoor Track Championship in May.
The Explorers also return incoming sophomores who made an immediate impact in their rookie seasons. Nick Crits returns as the defending Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Rookie after finishing tops among all freshmen at the conference championship with a 27th place time.
Tyler Jones is also back after earning two Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors for his performances at the Old Nassau Run at Princeton University and at William & Mary's Colonial Inter-Regional.
Sean Mallon also returns after rounding out the top six La Salle finishers at the Atlantic 10 Championship. Mallon was also a member of the school-record-breaking 4x800 meter relay squad during the outdoor track season.
Around the Atlantic 10, Massachusetts is predicted to defend its 2008 title. The Minutemen will be led by senior Jonathan Pierce, a ninth-place finisher in last year's individual standings. Richmond - picked to finish second - returns two top seniors in Matt Llano and Andrew Benford, who ran to second and fourth place, respectively. Duquesne rounds out the top three after missing out on the league crown by just one point last year.
The rest of the predictions include Dayton (4th), La Salle (5th), Charlotte (6th), Saint Joseph's (7th), Xavier (8th), Temple (9th), Fordham (10th), Saint Louis (11th), George Washington (12th), Rhode Island (13th) and Saint Bonaventure (14th).
The Explorers open the 2009 season at the Haverford Time Trials at nearby Haverford College at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, September 1st.
