LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College Men's Track and Field team was selected to finish second in the Centennial Conference preseason poll, announced by the conference on Thursday.
Eight-time defending champion Johns Hopkins headlined the poll in first after receiving eight of the nine possible first-place votes in the poll to tally 64 total points. The Bears earned 54 points to place second in the preseason vote among the Centennial coaches and was followed by Haverford in third with 48 points. Dickinson slotted in fourth in the poll with 47 points and received the final first-place vote, while Swarthmore rounded out the top-five with 33 points.
Gettysburg placed sixth in the poll with 25 points and Muhlenberg was selected sixth just behind the Bullets with 24 points. Franklin & Marshall came in eighth with 17 points while McDaniel rounded out the poll in ninth with 14 points.
The Centennial Conference women's indoor track & field teams return to competition this winter after a year-long hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Centennial indoor teams last competed at the 2020 CC Championship, just before the pandemic forced the cancellation of the NCAA Championship. This year, Ursinus will be hosting the Centennial Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Floy Lewis Bake Center on February 26th and 27th.
Ursinus finished second at the 2020 Centennial Indoor Championships as they earned their first runner-up finish at the indoor championships since 2011. The Bears earned a program record 139 points at the 2020 championships behind winning 12 medals. Senior Octavious Carter is among the key returnees for the Bears this season after earning silver in the 60-meter dash and was a member of the gold medalist 4x200 relay team. Senior Tyler Reilly also looks to build on a breakout 2019-20 indoor season after earning four medals in the most recent championships. Senior Nick Galbraith returns as well for his final indoor season in Collegeville and will seek to add another gold medal following his first place finish in the hammer back in 2018-19.
The Bears will open their season on Friday, December 10th as they will host the Bow Tie Invitational beginning at 4 p.m.