AMERICUS - The Peach Belt Conference has released its 2015 preseason coaches' poll for women's cross country and Georgia Southwestern ranks 10th out of 12 teams.
The Lady Hurricanes return four runners from last year's squad that captured the Darton State College Mid-Season Run title and took second at the GSW Remembrance Run. Despite returning four, Southwestern remains a young squad as the entire 2015 roster consists of underclassmen.
Sophomore Ashleigh Owens leads the pack as she holds two of the program's top 10 times in 5K races. Owens won the 2014 Darton Mid-Season Run and took eighth at last year's Remembrance Run.
Sophomore Lauren Ard holds two of the program's top 10 times in 6K races. Ard crossed the finish line ninth at the 2014 Darton Mid-Season Run and was the team's top finisher at last year's NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.
Sophomore Victoria Hickom had a pair of top 10 finishes last year as well. Hickom paced the Lady Hurricanes at the Remembrance Run with a fifth place finish and she took seventh at the Darton Mid-Season Run.
Owens, Ard, Hickom and fellow sophomore Shelby Parsekian, along with four newcomers, start the 2015 season on Sept. 5 by hosting the sixth annual Remembrance Run.
This year the 25th PBC Championships will be hosted by North Georgia in Gainsville and the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional will be held in Wingate, N.C.
Below is a complete list of the 2015 preseason poll. Teams were given 11 points for a first-place vote, 10 for a second and so on. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own teams.
2015 Peach Belt Conference Women's Cross Country
Preseason Coaches Poll
| Rank | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | Total |
| 1. | Montevallo | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 |
| 2. | North Georgia | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 |
| 3. | Flagler | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95 |
| 4. | Georgia Regents | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 |
| 5. | Columbus State | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 |
| 6. | UNC Pembroke | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 |
| 7. | Georgia College | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 60 |
| 8. | Young Harris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 53 |
| 9. | Clayton State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 46 |
| 10. | Georgia Southwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 26 |
| 11. | Francis Marion | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 22 |
| 12. | USC Aiken | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 19 |