ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's cross country team was picked to finish seventh in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason coaches poll with 77 points. The poll was voted on by the league's 13 head coaches and per league policy coaches were not eligible to vote for their own teams.
The Tritons return two All-GLVC performers from a season ago in senior
Benjamin VandenBrink and sophomore
Toby Middleton. VandenBrink finished 13th at the conference championships last year while Middleton was 20th. Middleton was also named the GLVC's Freshman of the Year.
Lewis was picked to win the league receiving 137 points and seven first-place votes edging out Illinois Springfield for the top spot by one point. The Prairie Stars garnered 136 points and five first-place votes. Rounding out the top five were Missouri S&T with 109 points, Drury was fourth at 105 points and received the final first-place vote and Southwest Baptist came in fifth with 101 points.
UMSL starts its 2023 season at the Southwest Baptist Bearcat Invite on Friday, Sept. 1. The meet will be held at the Bolivar Golf Course in Bolivar, Mo.
The complete poll and voting results can be found below.
| Rank |
School |
Points (1st-place votes) |
| 1. |
Lewis |
137 (7) |
| 2. |
Illinois Springfield |
136 (5) |
| 3. |
Missouri S&T |
109 |
| 4. |
Drury |
105 (1) |
| 5. |
Southwest Baptist |
101 |
| 6. |
Indianapolis |
94 |
| 7. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
77 |
| 8. |
Truman State |
69 |
| 9. |
Maryville |
64 |
| 10. |
Rockhurst |
43 |
| 11. |
McKendree |
31 |
| 12. |
William Jewell |
28 |
| 13. |
Quincy |
20 |
