The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men’s Cross Country Second, Women Third in SEC Preseason Poll
8/26/2021 | Cross Country
Rebel Men Return Top Two SEC Finishers from 2020, Mario Garcia Romo and Cole Bullock
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Ole Miss men's cross country has been picked to finish second and the women third in the SEC Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll, which was announced on Thursday morning.
The Rebel men, who have won two of the last three SEC titles, earned the preseason runner-up spot behind defending champions Arkansas, who earned 11 first-place votes. The Ole Miss women, who have finished top-three each season since 2016, are ranked behind defending champions Arkansas (10 first-place votes) and Alabama (four first-place votes).
The Ole Miss men will feature a deep roster blended with veterans and newcomers alike. The Rebels are coming off their second-best NCAA finish in program history (12th place) and the first 1-2-3 SEC podium sweep in program history, but they fell to a strong Arkansas group in the team battle to snap the Rebels' two-year winning streak. Returning out of that podium triumvirate are reigning SEC Champion and SEC Men's Runner of the Year, Mario Garcia Romo, as well as SEC runner-up Cole Bullock. Both also earned All-American honors after leading the Rebels at the NCAA Championships, with Bullock finishing 18th overall and Garcia Romo finishing in 30th place.
The Rebels do lose two-time All-American and team stalwart Waleed Suliman, who elected to forego his final year of eligibility after signing a professional contract during the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. However, Ole Miss still returns other talented veterans like Cade Bethmann, Michael Coccia, Nick Moulai and Ben Savino, while also welcoming a high-powered crop of newcomers such as 2020 Tennessee Gatorade Athlete of the Year Aiden Britt, two-time NCAA Division II track champion James Young of the Academy of Art, and Washington transfer Cruz Culpepper, who will be competing in his first cross country season as a collegian.
The Ole Miss women are in a similarly strong position, coming off their best national finish ever after a superb 12th-place showing at the NCAA Championships.
Leading the way for Rebel returnees is Anna Elkin, who will be competing in her final season of eligibility for Ole Miss as a graduate student. Last season, Elkin recorded the best national finish ever by a Rebel in the women's championship race in 49th place, which followed up a Second-Team All-SEC honor as the eighth-place finisher at the conference meet. Also returning are Sintayehu Vissa and Loral Winn, who both also would have broken the program record for best NCAA finish after taking 51st and 60th place, respectively, at the national meet. All three are coming off excellent track campaigns as well, which featured indoor All-American nods for Vissa and Winn, and trips to the NCAA East Regional outdoors for all three.
This will also be the final season of eligibility for Clio Ozanne-Jaques, who gets one final cross country campaign after running a limited 2020 slate and missing the entire 2019 season due to injury. Ozanne-Jaques holds a career-best NCAA finish of 65th from the 2018 national meet, and is coming off a school record 10K of 33:26.86 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.
Ole Miss loses two-time All-SEC runner Victoria Simmons, but returns other veterans like Skylar Boogerd and Ryann Helmers. Additionally, the Rebels welcome in a strong newcomer class that features the likes of freshmen Hannah Ielfield and Addy Stevenson, as well as North Florida transfer Lydia van Dijk.
The Rebels are once again coached by associate head coach Ryan Vanhoy, who enters his ninth season at Ole Miss and seventh in charge of the combined men's and women's cross country programs. Last season, Vanhoy was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Coach of the Year – his fifth total win in cross country and fourth with the Rebel men. Combined, Ole Miss stands as one of just four programs nationwide to place both men's and women's teams in the NCAA top-25 each of the last five years alongside BYU, Colorado and Stanford.
The Rebels will open the season next Saturday (Sept. 4) at Christian Brothers University for the Memphis Twilight.
SEC Men's Preseason Poll
1. Arkansas (11) – 11
2. Ole Miss – 23
3. Alabama (1) – 35
4. Kentucky – 43
5. Tennessee – 57
6. Missouri – 61
7. Georgia – 70
8. Florida – 78
9. LSU – 88
10. Texas A&M – 94
11. Auburn – 116
11. Vanderbilt – 116
SEC Women's Preseason Poll
1. Arkansas (10) – 16
2. Alabama (4) – 22
3. Ole Miss – 39
4. Kentucky – 48
5. Tennessee – 72
6. LSU – 85
7. Missouri – 91
8. Florida – 92
9. Vanderbilt – 97
10. Georgia – 121
11. Mississippi State – 142
12. Auburn – 144
13. Texas A&M – 146
14. South Carolina – 159
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
The Rebel men, who have won two of the last three SEC titles, earned the preseason runner-up spot behind defending champions Arkansas, who earned 11 first-place votes. The Ole Miss women, who have finished top-three each season since 2016, are ranked behind defending champions Arkansas (10 first-place votes) and Alabama (four first-place votes).
The Ole Miss men will feature a deep roster blended with veterans and newcomers alike. The Rebels are coming off their second-best NCAA finish in program history (12th place) and the first 1-2-3 SEC podium sweep in program history, but they fell to a strong Arkansas group in the team battle to snap the Rebels' two-year winning streak. Returning out of that podium triumvirate are reigning SEC Champion and SEC Men's Runner of the Year, Mario Garcia Romo, as well as SEC runner-up Cole Bullock. Both also earned All-American honors after leading the Rebels at the NCAA Championships, with Bullock finishing 18th overall and Garcia Romo finishing in 30th place.
The Rebels do lose two-time All-American and team stalwart Waleed Suliman, who elected to forego his final year of eligibility after signing a professional contract during the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. However, Ole Miss still returns other talented veterans like Cade Bethmann, Michael Coccia, Nick Moulai and Ben Savino, while also welcoming a high-powered crop of newcomers such as 2020 Tennessee Gatorade Athlete of the Year Aiden Britt, two-time NCAA Division II track champion James Young of the Academy of Art, and Washington transfer Cruz Culpepper, who will be competing in his first cross country season as a collegian.
The Ole Miss women are in a similarly strong position, coming off their best national finish ever after a superb 12th-place showing at the NCAA Championships.
Leading the way for Rebel returnees is Anna Elkin, who will be competing in her final season of eligibility for Ole Miss as a graduate student. Last season, Elkin recorded the best national finish ever by a Rebel in the women's championship race in 49th place, which followed up a Second-Team All-SEC honor as the eighth-place finisher at the conference meet. Also returning are Sintayehu Vissa and Loral Winn, who both also would have broken the program record for best NCAA finish after taking 51st and 60th place, respectively, at the national meet. All three are coming off excellent track campaigns as well, which featured indoor All-American nods for Vissa and Winn, and trips to the NCAA East Regional outdoors for all three.
This will also be the final season of eligibility for Clio Ozanne-Jaques, who gets one final cross country campaign after running a limited 2020 slate and missing the entire 2019 season due to injury. Ozanne-Jaques holds a career-best NCAA finish of 65th from the 2018 national meet, and is coming off a school record 10K of 33:26.86 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.
Ole Miss loses two-time All-SEC runner Victoria Simmons, but returns other veterans like Skylar Boogerd and Ryann Helmers. Additionally, the Rebels welcome in a strong newcomer class that features the likes of freshmen Hannah Ielfield and Addy Stevenson, as well as North Florida transfer Lydia van Dijk.
The Rebels are once again coached by associate head coach Ryan Vanhoy, who enters his ninth season at Ole Miss and seventh in charge of the combined men's and women's cross country programs. Last season, Vanhoy was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Coach of the Year – his fifth total win in cross country and fourth with the Rebel men. Combined, Ole Miss stands as one of just four programs nationwide to place both men's and women's teams in the NCAA top-25 each of the last five years alongside BYU, Colorado and Stanford.
The Rebels will open the season next Saturday (Sept. 4) at Christian Brothers University for the Memphis Twilight.
SEC Men's Preseason Poll
1. Arkansas (11) – 11
2. Ole Miss – 23
3. Alabama (1) – 35
4. Kentucky – 43
5. Tennessee – 57
6. Missouri – 61
7. Georgia – 70
8. Florida – 78
9. LSU – 88
10. Texas A&M – 94
11. Auburn – 116
11. Vanderbilt – 116
SEC Women's Preseason Poll
1. Arkansas (10) – 16
2. Alabama (4) – 22
3. Ole Miss – 39
4. Kentucky – 48
5. Tennessee – 72
6. LSU – 85
7. Missouri – 91
8. Florida – 92
9. Vanderbilt – 97
10. Georgia – 121
11. Mississippi State – 142
12. Auburn – 144
13. Texas A&M – 146
14. South Carolina – 159
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
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