PHILADELPHIA - Coming off an Atlantic 10 Championship a year ago, the La Salle men's cross country team was picked to finish first once again in the preseason coach's poll, the conference announced today.
The men return several of their top runners from last season. Senior
Alfredo Santana was the A-10 most outstanding performer after his 24:18 time earned the top finish at the conference championship meet last November. Other notable returners include 2011 all-A10 selections
Nick Ross and
Luke Arbuckle.
In addition, head coach Dan Ireland expects upperclassmen
Joe Beveridge,
Dan Day,
Nico Greco, and
Vince Perozze to make big contributions for the Explorers.
Ireland was named A-10 Coach of the Year in 2011 for both the men's and women's cross country teams.
“Our goals for this season are to defend our A-10 Championships and finish among the top five in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championships” Ireland said.
“We look forward to the challenge of competing at the A-10's and hopefully running our best races of the season,” he said. “If we do, we'll have a great shot at winning the title again."
Stay tuned to GoExplorers.com for a full video preview in the coming weeks.
2012 A-10 Men's Cross Country Predicted Order of Finish (2011 Finish)
1. La Salle (1
st)
2. Butler (Horizon League 1
st out of 10)
3. Saint Joseph's (3
rd)
4. Duquesne (2
nd)
5. Dayton (4
th)
6. Richmond (7
th)
7. Massachusetts (5
th)
8. Fordham (6
th)
9. Xavier (8
th)
10. Charlotte (9
th)
11. Temple (10
th)
12. Saint Louis (11
th)
13. VCU (CAA 5
th out of 7)
14. Rhode Island (12
th)
15. George Washington (13
th)
16. St. Bonaventure (14
th)
View the official release from the Atlantic 10 below:
http://www.atlantic10.com/sports/c-xc/spec-rel/082112aab.html
