RSC Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll: Ohio Christian picked first as favorite
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Ohio Christian University is picked as the favorite in the 2018 River States Conference Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll. The voting was conducted by the conference's head coaches prior to the first competition of the year.
Ohio Christian is predicted as repeat champs to go along with its 2017 RSC title. The Trailblazers garnered seven first-place votes and 97 votes overall to lead the poll. OCU has three all-conference performers returning to highlight its 2018 squad.
Point Park (Pa.) University placed second in the poll and received two first-place votes. The Pioneers were the RSC runner-up last year and qualified for NAIA nationals along with OCU. Point Park received 89 votes in all.
University of Rio Grande (Ohio) came in third this preseason, right where it finished last year. The RedStorm earned 80 votes. WVU Tech also held steady placing fourth this preseason just as it did at the end of 2017. The Golden Bears earned the remaining first-place vote and had 73 votes total.
Asbury (Ky.) University and IU East were fifth and sixth with 61 and 60 votes, respectively. The next pack of schools had Cincinnati Christian University (50 votes) seventh, IU Kokomo (49 votes) eighth and Brescia (Ky.) University (46 votes) ninth. Carlow (Pa.) University, Alice Lloyd (Ky.) College and Midway (Ky.) University rounded out the poll.
The RSC Championship will be held Nov. 3 at Yellow Creek Park in Owensboro, Ky., and will be hosted by Brescia University. The RSC champion will advance to the NAIA National Championship with automatic qualification. The RSC runner-up will advance as well if it is in the Top 30 of the final national rankings.
Follow River States Conference Cross Country all season long at RiverStatesConference.com and on social media @RiverStatesConf on Twitter hashtag #RSCXC and at Facebook.com/RiverStatesConference
2018 RIVER STATES CONFERENCE MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
| School | Votes |
| 1. Ohio Christian (7) | 97 |
| 2. Point Park (Pa.) (2) | 89 |
| 3. Rio Grande (Ohio) | 80 |
| 4. WVU Tech (1) | 73 |
| 5. Asbury (Ky.) | 61 |
| 6. IU East | 60 |
| 7. Cincinnati Christian | 50 |
| 8. IU Kokomo | 49 |
| 9. Brescia (Ky.) | 46 |
| 10. Carlow (Pa.) | 23 |
| 11. Alice Lloyd (Ky.) | 17 |
| 12. Midway (Ky.) | 15 |