NEW ORLEANS, LA - The Iona College men's cross country team earned a
No. 5 ranking in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches
Association preseason national cross country coaches’ poll for the 2011
NCAA Division I season. The Gaels finished eighth at the NCAA
Championship last November.
Six of Iona's top seven runners from last season's NCAA Championship lineup return including All-American senior
Leonard Korir. Seniors
Mitch Goose,
Ben Lindsay and
Alexander Soderberg join juniors
Matt Bayley and
Craig Murphy
as harriers that competed in Terre Haute in 2010. Korir finished fourth
individually in the race while Bayley, Goose and Lindsay all earned Top
75 finishes. Soderberg looks to rebound into his 2009 All-American form
after competing in last year's event while battling an illness.
Picked ahead of the Maroon & Gold were Oklahoma State,
Stanford, Wisconsin and Oregon. Oklahoma, Colorado, Florida State,
Indiana and Portland rounded out the Top 10.
The Gaels were also selected as the top team in the Northeast
Region ahead of No. 14 Syracuse, No. 18 Providence and No. 30 Dartmouth.
Columbia received votes in the national poll and was the No. 5 team in
the region.
Iona has earned 20 straight MAAC Championships, the second longest
active streak in NCAA Division I, behind the WCC's Portland. The Gaels
have also earned nine straight Top 2 finishes in the Northeast Regional
Championship, earning an automatic bid into the NCAA race. The program's
nine straight Top 10 finishes at nationals is only matched in NCAA
Division I by Wisconsin.
The Maroon & Gold kick off the 2011 campaign on Saturday (Sep.
3) at the 2011 Hofstra Walter "Brick" Stone Run at Bethpage State Park
in Farmingdale, NY.