Division III national champions for the third time in four seasons last fall, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges remain unanimous favorites to extend their SCIAC title streak to four years according to the 2024 Men’s Cross Country Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
Pomona-Pitzer edged the field in a 294-runner race by a single point to further solidify the team’s legacy, which ties the program for the most national titles in conference history across all sports. The Sagehens’ run of dominance has included back-to-back Athletes of the Year, with top returner Cameron Hatler looking to make it three in a row after finishing fourth at last year’s SCIAC Championship. The last two Newcomer of the Year awardees, Peter Neid and Jack Stein, also return along with Second Team All-SCIAC qualifier Owen Kobett.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges also were a unanimous pick tabbed for second place, which the Stags have occupied since their 2019 conference championship. Finishing 12th as a team at the NCAA Championship in Newville, Pa., CMS welcomes back three All-Conference qualifiers from last fall, led by two-time First Teamer Oliver Pick, who placed sixth at the SCIAC Championship last year. Two-time Second Team honoree Adam Sage and Daniel Fajardo, who placed 14th to make his first All-SCIAC cut, make for a trio that could challenge the Sagehens’ core.
The top returning runner in the conference is Caltech’s Rohun Agrawal, who crossed the finish line more than six seconds ahead of third place at last year’s Championship in 24:53.4. His finish was crucial as the Beavers and Coach of the Year winner Kelli Blake took third place over the University of La Verne via tiebreaker at 103 points apiece despite the Leopards’ 11-second edge in total time.
An extraordinarily tight pack is expected to vie for places four through six as just three points separated Occidental College, La Verne and the University of Redlands. Amir Barkan capped a second consecutive All-SCIAC First Team season with a 68th-place finish as an individual at the NCAA Championship. A new-look lineup will replace all five of the Leos’ scorers from last year’s race, with senior Efren Martin shouldering more of the leadership role and Finn McClure looking to build off his rookie debut. David Huggins led the Bulldogs in 19th place at the SCIAC Championship while rookie Stian Asper earned Athlete of the Week recognition for his performance on Oct. 2 at the Paul Short Invitational in Lehigh, Pa.
Chapman University is fortunate enough to have its top four runners from last fall back in the fold. Graduate student Cole Cooper was a single place shy of All-Conference accolades (21st) and Gil Bothwell also enrolled for an advanced degree while Gavin White recorded a top-50 finish in his debut season. Eric Talbert once again will lead the California Lutheran University contingent with an Athlete of the Week honor on his resume from Sept. 11. Cameron Riccio is back to lead the Whittier College squad.
The season opens on Saturday, Aug. 31 as seven teams get a preview of the SCIAC Championship site, Carbon Canyon Regional Park, in Brea while Redlands hosts Whittier College and other teams across divisions.
2024 SCIAC Men’s Cross Country Preseason Poll
1. Pomona-Pitzer, 81 points (9)
2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 72 pts
3. Caltech, 59 pts
4. Occidental, 47 pts
5. La Verne, 46 pts
6. Redlands, 44 pts
7. Chapman, 27 pts
8. California Lutheran, 20 pts
9. Whittier, 9 pts
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