Defending champion Pomona-Pitzer Colleges have been picked to claim their third straight conference title in the 2023 SCIAC Men’s Cross Country Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
Back-to-back national champions bookending the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019 and 2021, the Sagehens placed fifth in Division III last fall after dominant performances in the SCIAC Championships and NCAA West Regional. Athlete of the Year and track & field 10k champion Derek Fearon headlines a returning group that took the top three spots in the SCIAC Championships, with West Region top finisher and 5k track & field winner Lucas Florsheim runner-up and Ian Horsburgh third. Another seven All-Conference performers are also back, with Owen Koebett also making the First Team last season. New head coach Amber Williams will look to Second Teamers Cameron Hatler, Duncan Spears, Colin Kirkpatrick, Bennett Booth-Genthe, Newcomer of the Year Jack Stein and the rookie class to fill that fifth spot in arguably the deepest team in the nation.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, last year’s 15th-ranked team in DIII, are expected to present the Sagehens’ main challenge. Oliver Pick finished fourth in the SCIAC Championships with a 25:01.8, just half a second behind Horsburgh at the tape. Adam Sage also made the Second Team cut, finishing sixth at the West Regional and 75th at the DIII Championship.
NCAA participant TK Berhe once again will pace a University of La Verne contingent that has risen in the conference standings rapidly over the past six years from eighth place in 2017 to sixth in 2018-19, fourth in 2021 and third last season. Berhe placed 132nd at the NCAA Championships after leading the Leopards to a narrow three-point edge over the University of Redlands at the SCIAC Championships.
Ronan Byrne and Nolan Brown, last year’s second- and third-rated runners for the Bulldogs, are back to mount another challenge to break back into the top three for the first time since 2019. Byrne placed 23rd at the SCIAC Championships in 26:05.0 while Brown was 29th at a 26:22.1
Coming in fifth in the rankings was Caltech with breakout Second Team selection Joey Litvin placing 118th at NCAAs after dropping nearly a minute from his 2021 SCIAC Championships time. He continued to progress throughout the track & field season, earning the bronze medal behind only Fearon and Florsheim in the 10k.
Occidental College also sent a runner to NCAAs in Amir Barkan, who placed 145th and beat out Litvin for First Team recognition at the SCIAC Championships. Chapman’s and California Lutheran University’s top two runners from 2022 return. Zach Leith and Cole Cooper paced the Panthers, placing 44th and 54th in the SCIAC Championships, while Sebastian Sawyer and Eric Talbert fronted the Kinsmen in 33rd and 49th. Whittier College will be returning to the course with a plethora of fresh faces after not competing during the 2022 season.
2023 SCIAC Men’s Cross Country Preseason Poll
1. Pomona-Pitzer, 79 points (7 first-place votes)
2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 74 pts (2)
3. La Verne, 60 pts
4. Redlands, 48 pts
5. Caltech, 46 pts
6. Occidental, 44 pts
7. Chapman, 26 pts
8. California Lutheran, 19 pts
9. Whittier, 9 pts
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