ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Anderson University women's cross-country team has been tabbed third in the 2023 South Atlantic Conference preseason coaches' poll, with Emily Golden and Elise Matthews being named athletes to watch on Thursday (Aug. 17). Wingate was voted as the favorite to win the title. The Bulldogs, who won the 2022 SAC Women's Cross Country Championships and took home the Southeast Region title, received 12 first place votes and tallied 144 points in the poll.
Golden, a senior from Tifton, GA, set two personal bests last season in the 5k (18:48.8) at the UAH DII Festival Year Showcase and 6k (22:40.4) at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. Emily was named USTFCCCA All-Academic and All-Region, as well as All-SAC Second Team and CSC Academic All-District at the conclusion of the season.
Matthews, a senior from Piedmont, S.C., recorded a season best 5k time (18:37.1) at the UAH DII Festival Year Showcase while setting a personal best 6k time (22:34.1) at the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships. At the conclusion of the season, Elise was named USTFCCCA All-Academic and All-Region, while also earning All-SAC Second Team recognition.
The Trojans open the 2023 campaign on Sept. 16 in Spartanburg at the Converse Kick-Off Classic, followed by the NCAA Regional Preview two weeks later in Oakwood, GA on Sept. 30. To wrap up the regular season, Anderson travels to Huntsville, AL for the UAH Charger Invitational on Oct. 7.
"Each meet this year has a purpose as far as scheduling goes," said coach Kevin Eagle. "Each one gets more important as the season progresses. We open at Converse, with this course being the host of the 2023 NCAA Division 1 Southeast Regional Championship. We are hoping to get some pretty good early season competition by racing here. This is typically a smaller meet, but who knows what it will look like this year. The next competition at North Georgia is to simply allow our runners to get familiar with our regional course. Most have not run here before, so it will be nice to race regional competition while learning the course for when it really matters in November. The UAH meet is one of the largest in the country all year long, so this one will show us where we stack up against some of the best teams in the entire country. This one will get us ready the championship portion of our schedule."
The SAC XC Championships are set for Oct.21 in Newton, N.C. for the first time since 2017, with the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 4 in Oakwood, GA, and the national championships taking place on Nov.18 in Joplin, MO.
"From my memory, the Newton course is very flat and fast, so it will compare mostly with the course at UAH," said Eagle. "There are not any hills that you must worry about, so it is basically a track meet out there for all runners. It is opposite of the regional course this year, so it will be hard to fully train for one or the other. We know that the regional meet is the one that dictates who makes it to NCAAs, so that is the one that we will focus on throughout the year. If we are prepared to run a hilly type of course, a flat, track like course should not be much of a problem. We just must focus on getting out quick and holding on to that fast pace as there are no hills to slow us down at any point on the SAC course."
2023 SAC WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON POLL
School (First Place Votes) Points
- Wingate (12) 144
- Catawba (1) 128
- Anderson 127
- Lenoir-Rhyne 110
- Lincoln Memorial 99
- Carson-Newman 90
- Tusculum 69
- UVA Wise 63
- Coker 50
- Newberry 48
- Limestone 40
- Mars Hill 28
- Emory & Henry 18
