Women's Cross Country selected seventh

GREENWOOD, Ind. – An experienced Yellow Jacket squad looks to improve last year's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference finish of eighth place and the HCAC thinks they can, selecting them to finish seventh this year.

Defending champion Hanover and runner-up Manchester have both been selected at the top of the preseason poll.  Both received 95 points and five first place votes to tie at the top of the list.

Defiance College didn't graduate a runner and brings back a pair of talented seniors to help lead DC to a stronger finish than a year ago.

Kelsey Bowling (Sidney, Ohio / Houston) and Marissa Bussard (Whitehall, Ohio / Bloom-Carroll) are the two seniors for DC and both were selected to the HCAC Preseason Runners to Watch list.

Bowling comes back with the fourth best average time from last season.  She finished in the top five for DC in six of the seven races.  At the Calvin Pre-Regional, Bowling saw her best time of the year with a 22:06.2.

Bussard also saw her best finish during that race.  She finished right behind Bowling with a 22:08.9.  Bussard finished in the top five for DC in six of the seven races as well.

The Yellow Jackets also bring back Eme Miller (Portland, Ind. / Jay County) who was the third DC runner to be selected to the HCAC Preseason Runners to Watch list.  Miller will be a serious threat for Runner of the Year in the HCAC as she finished third just a year ago.  She was DC's top finisher in all seven races.

The Yellow Jackets will start their season on Friday, August 29 at the Manchester Hokum Karem.  Race time is set to begin at 5:30 pm.