RICHARDSON, Texas – The Lone Star Conference announced its 2022 Men's and Women's Cross Country Preseason Polls and Runners to Watch lists Tuesday, as voted on by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives.
West Texas A&M was favored to win the men's title while Dallas Baptist was picked as the women's favorite. University of Arkansas - Fort Smith was tabbed 12th on the men's side and the women were picked 11th. The Lions received 126 and 178 points, respectively.
For the men, the Buffs received 32 first-place votes and totaled 486 points. WT was followed by DBU (433 points), St. Edward's (400), UT Tyler (346) and Texas A&M International (334) to round out the top five. DBU, Oklahoma Christian and UT Permian Basin all received one first-place vote.
DBU totaled 547 points and 29 first-place votes in the women's poll and was followed by WT with 525 points and eight first-place votes. Completing the top five were Texas A&M International (457), Lubbock Christian (400) and Oklahoma Christian (382).
Each program nominated two runners to watch for the upcoming 2022 season. Runners to watch for UAFS are Carlos Hernandez, Lawson Douglas, Joyce Ferguson and Kari Sosa.
Hernandez led the Lions in five of six meets last season and won the Early Bird Opener. Douglas scored in all six meets as a freshman in 2021 and had a top 8k time of 28:44.6.
Ferguson was a top three finisher for the Lions in all six events last season with a top 5k time of 19:50.8. Sosa also was in the top three for each of her five races and had a top 5k time of 20:18.5.
UAFS begins its season September 3 at the Memphis Twilight Classic. The 2022 LSC Cross Country Championships hosted by Midwestern State are slated for Wichita Falls, Texas, on Saturday, November 5.
