The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Men No. 14, Women No. 15 in USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings
8/27/2019 | Cross Country
This Marks Highest Preseason Ranking Ever for Both Teams
NEW ORLEANS – Ole Miss men's and women's cross country will both open the season ranked within the top-15 in the nation, sitting at No. 14 and No. 15, respectively, in the USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings released on Tuesday morning.
This marks the highest preseason ranking for both squads, and it is the highest simultaneous rankings for Ole Miss since Week Six of the 2016 season, when the Rebel men sat in 11th and the women 14th. The No. 15 slot is the third-best overall in Rebel women's history (the highest since ranking 12th in Week Four of the 2017 season), as well as the fourth-best in men's history.
Ole Miss is one of nine schools nationally to have both its men's and women's teams rank within the preseason top-15, joining BYU, Colorado, NC State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Stanford, Washington and Wisconsin. The Rebels also stand as one of just six programs nationally to have both teams sit atop their respective region rankings that were released by the USTFCCCA on Monday.
Recently crowned the SEC preseason favorites on Monday, the Rebel men are fresh off their first SEC title in program history last fall and return all but one scorer from that conference team in 2018 (Mark Robertson). This year, Ole Miss returns All-American junior Waleed Suliman, SEC Freshman of the Year Cade Bethmann, as well as NCAA All-South Region contributors in senior Farah Abdulkarim, sophomore Mario Garcia Romo and junior Ben Savino.
Ole Miss snapped Arkansas' streak of eight consecutive SEC men's titles last fall, defeating the Razorbacks, 36-44, to make the Rebels the first team not named Arkansas or Alabama to win an SEC men's title since Tennessee did so in 1990.
The Ole Miss women, meanwhile, are coming off the highest finish at the NCAA Championships in their history after a 22nd-place finish at the national meet in 2018. After having never qualified for the NCAA meet prior to 2016, the Rebel women have qualified every year since – winning the 2017 NCAA South Region title in the process. Ole Miss has also finished at least third at the conference meet each year in that span after having never finished that high prior, topping out with a program record second-place finish in 2016.
The Rebels return all seven members of that NCAA team, including their top finisher in junior Clio Ozanne-Jaques, who recorded the second-highest individual finish in Rebel women's history last year in 65th place. Other key contributors returning in 2019 include All-Region runners Lisa Vogelgesang, Maddie King and Ylvi Traxler.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
This marks the highest preseason ranking for both squads, and it is the highest simultaneous rankings for Ole Miss since Week Six of the 2016 season, when the Rebel men sat in 11th and the women 14th. The No. 15 slot is the third-best overall in Rebel women's history (the highest since ranking 12th in Week Four of the 2017 season), as well as the fourth-best in men's history.
Ole Miss is one of nine schools nationally to have both its men's and women's teams rank within the preseason top-15, joining BYU, Colorado, NC State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Stanford, Washington and Wisconsin. The Rebels also stand as one of just six programs nationally to have both teams sit atop their respective region rankings that were released by the USTFCCCA on Monday.
Recently crowned the SEC preseason favorites on Monday, the Rebel men are fresh off their first SEC title in program history last fall and return all but one scorer from that conference team in 2018 (Mark Robertson). This year, Ole Miss returns All-American junior Waleed Suliman, SEC Freshman of the Year Cade Bethmann, as well as NCAA All-South Region contributors in senior Farah Abdulkarim, sophomore Mario Garcia Romo and junior Ben Savino.
Ole Miss snapped Arkansas' streak of eight consecutive SEC men's titles last fall, defeating the Razorbacks, 36-44, to make the Rebels the first team not named Arkansas or Alabama to win an SEC men's title since Tennessee did so in 1990.
The Ole Miss women, meanwhile, are coming off the highest finish at the NCAA Championships in their history after a 22nd-place finish at the national meet in 2018. After having never qualified for the NCAA meet prior to 2016, the Rebel women have qualified every year since – winning the 2017 NCAA South Region title in the process. Ole Miss has also finished at least third at the conference meet each year in that span after having never finished that high prior, topping out with a program record second-place finish in 2016.
The Rebels return all seven members of that NCAA team, including their top finisher in junior Clio Ozanne-Jaques, who recorded the second-highest individual finish in Rebel women's history last year in 65th place. Other key contributors returning in 2019 include All-Region runners Lisa Vogelgesang, Maddie King and Ylvi Traxler.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
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Who To Watch: Ole Miss Track and Field
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