LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's cross country team was picked eighth in the Centennial Conference preseason poll.
Johns Hopkins received nine first-place votes and held the top spot with 81 points, with Dickinson grabbing the other first-place vote to place second with 72 points. Haverford was third with 64 points and was followed by Swarthmore (59), Gettysburg (46), Muhlenberg (38), Bryn Mawr (33), Ursinus (23), Franklin & Marshall (21), and McDaniel (13).
The Bears are looking to build upon a season in which they finished ninth at the CC championship and moved up three spots to take 32nd at the NCAA Mideast Regional.
Senior Riley Engel returns to lead the Ursinus pack after a career-best 34th-place showing at the conference meet. Engel, who paced the Bears the entire season, was 107th among a field of 351 at the regional championship.
Junior Alyson Manley turned in a strong campaign in 2017, finishing as the second Ursinus runner across the line at regionals and third at the CC championship. Seniors Audrey Simpson and Gabrielle Manto, junior Ellie Stanley, and sophomores Bianca Joseph and Meredith Steele consistently made up the team's top seven finishers.
With the addition of a talented crop of newcomers to add depth and balance, head coach Carl Blickle expects continued progress for a squad that opens the new campaign at the Bryn Mawr Invitational on Friday.