COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – All of the hard work is beginning to pay off, according to Tennessee Tech men’s and women’s cross country coach Wayne Angel.
For the first time in history, the Tech men’s program is ranked. The Golden Eagles are listed 14th in the preseason South Region of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), one of just three Ohio Valley Conference men’s teams on the preseason charts.
“We’ve been running all over the countryside,” Angel said of his team’s preparations for the coming season. “People see us out there running, farmers stop and watch as we run past. They see us, and they wonder what in the world is it. Who are all these runners?”
Having Tennessee Tech in the preseason poll was not Angel’s goal, but the second-year coach is pleased for the strides the program seems to be taking.
“I’m not sure we deserve that high of a ranking, but it does give our runners something to strive toward maintaining,” Angel says. “They see us listed, and they want to stay there.”
Around the OVC, the Eastern Kentucky men are ranked fourth in the Southeast Region and the EKU women are seventh. Belmont also has both teams on the preseason regional polls, each placing 13th in the South.
Tech opens the season Saturday at the Indiana Open, hosted by the University of Indiana.
Click here to see the entire preseason USTFCCCA poll
