Greenville, SC – Three-time defending Conference Carolinas men's cross country champion, UNC Pembroke has been picked as the favorite in the 2025 Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll.
The Braves received all 15 first place votes and 225 points to edge 2024 runner-up Converse University for the top spot. The Valkyries earned the final first place vote and 202 points to claim he second spot. Lees-McRae College came in third with 190 points ahead of Belmont Abbey College in fourth with 181 points. Southern Wesleyan received 173 points to be picked fifth.
Young Harris College came in sixth with 164 points while North Greenville University is seventh with 134 points. The University of Mount Olive and King University are eighth and ninth with 127 and 107 points, respectively. Erskine College closed out the top 10 with 87 points.
Barton College (82), Emmanuel University (78), Francis Marion University (52), Shorter University (49), Ferrum College (44) and Chowan University (25), rounded out the poll.
The Warriors secured a fifth place selection in the preseason poll after finishing in fifth in the Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country Championship last season. Back-to-back Runner of the Year recipient, Ronan O'Neill, will return for his senior season on the course. O'Neill advanced all the way to the NCAA National Championship last season where he finished in 53rd. He will be joined by fellow senior, Drew Jones, who received All-Conference Second Team honors after his 11th place finish last season. Caleb Richardson, Kaden Reeder and Grady Clark will also return to help the Warriors.
Southern Wesleyan will open up the 2025 campaign on September 5 as they travel down the road to Spartanburg, SC to take part in the Converse Kick-Off. They will then travel to Charlotte, NC as Wingate hosts the Bulldog Stampede on September 20th. The Warriors will travel down to Huntsville, AL on September 26 to take part in the Twilight at John Hunt before returning to Charlotte, NC on October 10 to run in the Royals XC Challenge.
The 2025 Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country Championship will take place on Friday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m. at the Ivey Redmon Course in Kernersville, North Carolina.
The preseason poll was voted on by the league's head coaches and they can't vote for their own school.
