Men's Cross Country | 8/30/2023 10:28:00 AM

TROY, N.Y. - The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has announced its 2023 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Coaches' Preseason Polls and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men are ranked at No. 11 in the 35-school listing. 

The Engineers, who are coached by John Lynch, are coming off a season in which they set the school record with a ninth place finish at the NCAA Championship. They also won their sixth consecutive Liberty League Championship Meet, had four other victories, and were runner-up in the 26-school NCAA Mideast Regional Championship.

Of the seven individuals who raced at nationals in Michigan, four return, led by Cory Kennedy (Littleton, CO / Heritage). As a junior last year, he finished second on the team and 18th overall with a time of 25:23.7 to earn All-America.

Classmate Mitchell Dailey (Burrillville, RI / Burrillville) was 66th at the NCAA Championship - an 8k course - with a time of 25:59.9, while Jason Gibbons, a graduate student this semester, crossed in 26:15.8 to place 101st. Jonathan Craun (Washington, MI / Romeo), another senior, was nine spots behind Gibbons with a time of 26:19.7.

This year's squad, which begins on September 16 when it hosts the RPI Harvest Classic, features four graduate students, eight seniors, three juniors, 10 sophomores, and nine freshmen.

Rensselaer, which is second in the region, opens the season 11 points behind Johns Hopkins University for No. 10 and 20 points in back of No. 9 Williams College. North Central College (Ill.) is No. 1, just three points in front of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.