Men’s and Women’s Cross Country tabbed second in preseason SAC polls
Rock Hill, S.C. —- The Catawba College men's and women's cross country teams were both picked to finish second in the South Atlantic Conference's preseason coaches' poll, the league office announced Wednesday morning. Additionally, four Catawba student-athletes were recognized as Runners to Watch for the upcoming season.
Wingate was the league favorite in both men's and women's polls. Catawba's men received one first-place vote, while the women received two votes to finish as the conference champion.
Madi Clay, the two-time reigning SAC Runner of the Year, returns for her junior season looking to add to her already remarkable career in Salisbury. The Morganton, N.C. native posted top-five finishes in each of her first six cross country races last season, including a win at the home Catawba Fleet Feet Invite. Clay is coming off of an All-American finish in the 1500m at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships this past spring.
Natalie Almond returns as a junior after an impressive 2023 campaign that saw her set a 6K personal-best at the DII National Championships at 22:08, as well as a 17:37 in the 5K at the North Georgia Invitational, good for fourth-fastest in program history. Almond's 2023 season was cut short to just four events.
Oussama Ajala, a senior from Khemmiset, Morocco, serves as one of the leaders on a Catawba men's cross country team looking to return to the NCAA DII National Championships for the third time in four years. A trip to Nationals would be Ajala's fourth in his career,a feat no Catawba Cross Country student-athlete has achieved. Ajala posted the best finish by a men's runner at nationals last fall.
Ian Pierce rounded out the Catawba representatives on the Runners to Watch list, bursting onto the scene last fall, earning SAC Freshman of the Year as a result. The Charlotte native placed second at the Winthrop Invitational and broke the program's freshman 8K record in his first season on campus.
Both cross country teams open their 2024 campaign with the home Catawba Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7.