Cross Country Earns Highest Preseason Ranking in Program History
August 29, 2016 | Cross Country
STARKVILLE, Miss. – A year after finishing second in the conference and reaching the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history, the Mississippi State Cross Country team has been picked to finish third in the league.
Voted on by the league's coaches, the third-place selection is the highest the women's team has placed on the preseason list. The Bulldogs return 10 athletes from last year's squad that finished 17th at the NCAA Championships.
"It's the highest we've ever been in the preseason," MSU coach Houston Franks said. "It is nice to get that respect. We finished second last year and our goal every year is to do better than we did the year before. Arkansas has a great team. Vanderbilt has a great team and Florida has a great team. There are a lot of really good teams in the SEC, just like there are in every sport. Finishing higher than we did last year is going to be a tough task, but that will be our goal entering this year."
On top of being selected to finish third in the conference, MSU was also selected as the top team in the South Region by the USTFCCCA. The Bulldogs are predicted to finish ahead of national power Vanderbilt as well as conference foes Ole Miss, Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
The Bulldogs' veteran group is led by senior All-American Rhianwedd Price, who has made it to the NCAA's the past two seasons, both individually and with the entire team. She enters 2016 with five top-5 finishes in her career, including taking first in the Memphis Twilight in 2014.
Shannon Fair, Antonia Hehr, Kaelin Kersh, Mia Meydrich, Ffion Price, Carly Terp, Kristy Terp and Lisa Ziegler also return to the Bulldogs in 2016 looking to improve upon the team's historic 2015 campaign.
The Maroon and White kickoff the 2016 campaign this Saturday at the Memphis Twilight. For more information on the MSU cross country team, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them Instagram by searching @HailStateTF. You can also find all access coverage on SnapChat by searching 'HailStateSnap'.
Voted on by the league's coaches, the third-place selection is the highest the women's team has placed on the preseason list. The Bulldogs return 10 athletes from last year's squad that finished 17th at the NCAA Championships.
"It's the highest we've ever been in the preseason," MSU coach Houston Franks said. "It is nice to get that respect. We finished second last year and our goal every year is to do better than we did the year before. Arkansas has a great team. Vanderbilt has a great team and Florida has a great team. There are a lot of really good teams in the SEC, just like there are in every sport. Finishing higher than we did last year is going to be a tough task, but that will be our goal entering this year."
On top of being selected to finish third in the conference, MSU was also selected as the top team in the South Region by the USTFCCCA. The Bulldogs are predicted to finish ahead of national power Vanderbilt as well as conference foes Ole Miss, Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
The Bulldogs' veteran group is led by senior All-American Rhianwedd Price, who has made it to the NCAA's the past two seasons, both individually and with the entire team. She enters 2016 with five top-5 finishes in her career, including taking first in the Memphis Twilight in 2014.
Shannon Fair, Antonia Hehr, Kaelin Kersh, Mia Meydrich, Ffion Price, Carly Terp, Kristy Terp and Lisa Ziegler also return to the Bulldogs in 2016 looking to improve upon the team's historic 2015 campaign.
The Maroon and White kickoff the 2016 campaign this Saturday at the Memphis Twilight. For more information on the MSU cross country team, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them Instagram by searching @HailStateTF. You can also find all access coverage on SnapChat by searching 'HailStateSnap'.
Players Mentioned
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