ANDERSON, S.C. -- Coming off of a fourth place finish in last seasons Conference Carolinas Championships, the Anderson University mens cross country team was picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches poll released Tuesday. "We've got a lot of new kids this year and are very talented, but we're also very young. We do our best to not worry about polls because we still have to run the races," Coach Randy Greer said. "We had a really good recruiting year, and we hope to build on that to have a chance at finishing high this year. I think in the conference we can definitely finish in the top three." The Trojans were led to last season's fourth place conference finish by a strong group of upperclassmen, but that core group was hit hard by graduation. Entering this season, the only returning runner from last season's team is senior Alex Jordan. Jordan (Grove City, Ohio) finished eighth at the conference meet last season with a time of 27:45.8, and was a second team All Conference Carolinas selection. Greer has been impressed with the way Jordan came into the Fall prepared, and has high expectations for his senior star this season. "Alex put in a good summer, is in great shape, and is definitely ready to go. If he has a good day (at the conference meet), I fully expect him to make a run for first team All Conference," said Greer. Redshirt freshman Jonathan Stephens (Liberty, S.C.) will also be a key contributor for the Trojans this season. While he did not compete in meets last season, Stephens is a strong runner and has stepped into a leadership role alongside Alex Jordan. "Jonathan was a redshirt freshman last year, so he's got a year of experience underneath him. We're hoping to see him come out and do well," Greer said. "Jonathan and Alex are doing great (as leaders) and are keeping everybody accountable. You've got to have good team leaders, and they're doing a great job." The Trojans lost five of the top six runners from last season, and Greer is hoping that some of his large freshman class will step up and quickly get acclimated to running college cross country. And three freshmen have already made their case for why good things can be expected from them. Alex Pena has a lot of upside and Greer sees him as someone who can be a future team leader. Matt Shaffer comes into the program from the same high school as Alex Jordan, and was one of the top runners in Ohio as a senior. Nigel Reynolds is expected to be a solid cross country runner and will contribute on the track team as well.