Butler Men Picked Second In A-10 Cross Country Poll

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Butler will be among the teams to beat in this year’s Atlantic 10 men’s cross country race, according to the preseason poll of the league’s 16 head coaches.  The Bulldogs were tabbed second in the men’s cross country preseason poll, released by the A-10 office on Tuesday (Aug. 21).

Defending A-10 champion La Salle topped the men’s poll.  The Explorers captured their eighth Atlantic 10 men’s championship in 2011, and they return the A-10 men’s individual champ, Alfredo Santana.

Butler, competing in the A-10 for the first time, captured its 14th consecutive Horizon League men’s cross country championship last fall.  The Bulldogs swept the top three individuals in the men’s championship and captured five of the top 10 individual spots.  Sophomore Tom Curr, who place third at last year’s Horizon League championship leads Butler’s men.

The A-10 coaches picked Saint Joseph’s third in the men’s preseason poll, followed by Duquesne, Dayton, Richmond, Massachusetts, Fordham, Xavier, Charlotte, Temple, Saint Louis, VCU, Rhode Island, George Washington and St. Bonaventure.

The 2012 Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championship will be hosted by Temple at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday, Oct. 27.