Men's Cross Country Picked to Finish Seventh In Northeast Conference Poll

The Central Connecticut State University men's cross country team was picked to finish seventh in the Northeast Conference Coaches' Poll, released today. Led by Ry Sanderson's third place finish, the Blue Devils placed seventh at last season's NEC Championship meet. Sanderson, a senior in 2009, will look to improve upon CCSU's performance from a year ago.

Three-time defending NEC Champion Quinnipiac sits atop the preseason poll for the fourth year in a row. The Bobcats received nine out of the 12 first place votes. Sacred Heart and Mount St. Mary's picked up two and one first place vote, as they placed second and third in the poll, respectively. Monmouth, St. Francis (PA) and Wagner were the final three teams predicted to finish ahead of Central in the 2009 season. Robert Morris, Bryant, Long Island, Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis (NY) were slotted in the eight through 12 positions in the poll.

NEC Men's Cross Country Coaches' Poll Release

After four seasons as an assistant coach for both cross country and track & field at CCSU, Eric Blake steps into the head coaching position in 2009. Along with Sanderson, Blake returns four sophomores that showed plenty of potential as freshmen at last year's NEC Championship. Sam Alexander finished in 21st, Kevin Tiernan was 32nd, Jeremy Schmid took 45th and Dan Watson placed 48th for the Blue Devils.

Central will begin the season on Saturday September 12 when they host the Blue Devil Invitational at Stanley Quarter Park.