Rock Hill, S.C. – The Big South Conference released the 2024 Preseason Men's and Women's Cross Country Poll as the Eagles were voted to finish tied for seventh on the men's side and tied for sixth in the women's, announced by the league office Wednesday morning.
Winthrop's men's squad features a young roster heading into the season with four freshmen, four sophomores, three juniors, four seniors and one graduate transfer.
Daren Hinds (Sr.) and
Noah Woodbury (Sr.) bring the most experience to this year's squad. The top newcomers for the Eagles this season are
Jason Krell, a graduate transfer from the University of Louisville and freshman
Conner Magill from Cumberland H.S. in Rhode Island.
On the women's side, half of Winthrop's roster is made up three freshman and four sophomores. The remaining three are two juniors and a senior. Top returnees include junior
Olivia Kemp and sophomore
Alexis Taylor. The top newcomers for the Eagles this season, all freshman, include
Ella Collins from Colaiste na Toirbhirte in Cork, Ireland;
Anna Conrad from Fairfield Union H.S. in Ohio and
Brianna Dooney from Summerville H.S. in South Carolina.
In Taylor's freshman year in 2023-24, she was named the Big South Conference Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Week for meets ran Oct. 5-8. She had the third-best time for the Eagles with a time of 19:56, finishing 106th at the Royal Challenge on the campus of Queens University in Charlotte, N.C. Since the Conference starting awarding a Freshman of the Week honor in 2021, Taylor becomes Winthrop's first-ever recipient of this honor.
In Kemp's sophomore year in 2023-24, she was named to the Big South Women's Cross Country All-Academic Team. This is Kemp's first All-Academic placement and she becomes Winthrop's 28
th All-Academic honoree on the women's side.
Hinds had an outstanding junior season in 2023-24. He was named the Big South Conference Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week on Sep. 6. He finished 16th out of 146 runners at the Elon Twilight Open with a 6k time of 18:07.2, which also set a PR and shattered his previous time in the event by more than a minute. With this placement, Hinds helped the Eagles to a fifth-place team finish and was the second time as an Eagle that Hinds was named the runner of the week. He then took first place overall with a time of 25:33.6 in the 8k at the 39th Annual Winthrop/Adidas Invitational on Sep. 30. Hinds became the first Eagle to capture first place in a race at home since Hall of Famer Adam Growley did so in 2001.
Winthrop opens its season on Sep. 1 with the Elon Twilight in Elon, N.C.
2024 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON SPRING MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY POLL
| Rk - School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - Charleston Southern (8) |
80 |
| 2 - UNC Asheville (1) |
68 |
| 3 - High Point |
67 |
| 4 - Radford |
54 |
| 5 - USC Upstate |
41 |
| 6 - Longwood |
34 |
| 7 - Winthrop |
31 |
| 8 - Gardner-Webb |
16 |
| 9 - Presbyterian College |
14 |
2024 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON SPRING WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY POLL
| Rk - School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - High Point (8) |
79 |
| 2 - Charleston Southern (1) |
69 |
| 3 - Radford |
63 |
| 4 - UNC Asheville |
56 |
| 5 - Longwood |
41 |
| T6 - Winthrop |
32 |
| T6 - USC Upstate |
32 |
| 8 - Gardner-Webb |
21 |
| 9 - Presbyterian College |
12 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 9 points, followed by 8 points for second-place, and so on.
