Indianapolis, Ind. – After claiming their second consecutive and 17th overall Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Cross Country Championship last season, Lewis University was picked to finish first in the GLVC Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league office announced Wednesday morning.
The Flyers topped the chart with 11 first-place votes and 121 points. Drury landed in second place with 109 points and snagged the remaining first-place vote while Illinois Springfield rounded out the top three with 100 total points. Missouri S&T was tabbed to finish fourth with 83 points while Southwest Baptist slotted into fifth with 76 points. Indianapolis (75), Truman State (56), Missouri-St. Louis (52), Rockhurst (41), Maryville (39), McKendree (26) and Quincy (14) made up the remainder of the poll.
Lewis returns multiple members from their 2024 championship team including GLVC Runner of the Year and All-American
Evan Horgan (Loves Park, Ill./Belvidere North) along with All-GLVC honoree
Zack Dunn (Merrilville, Ind./Merrilville). Horgan put together one of the strongest overall season performances in program history as he set the GLVC Championship record with a time of 23:23.64. He followed that performance with a first-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regionals, completing the course with a final time of 30:39.5. He capped off his postseason run with a 13th place finish at the NCAA Championships to secure All-American accolades. As for Dunn, he enters his senior campaign after placing 17th at the GLVC Championship and 41st at the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Merrilville, Ind., native also posted a top-50 finish at the National Catholic Invitational last year with a time of 25:23.5 in the 8k.
Head coach
James Kearney is back at the helm of the men's cross country program for the 15th season after collecting GLVC Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time in his career during the 2024 campaign. Last season, Kearney led the Flyers to a 12th place finish at the NCAA Championships, the highest finish for the program since they placed ninth in 2021. Since 2010, Kearney has helped mentor six NCAA Cross Country All-Americans, 45 All-Midwest region athletes and 93 All-GLVC honorees.
The Flyers being their season on Sept. 5 by hosting the Lewis Early Bird Invite. The red and white will compete in three more events throughout the fall, highlighted by holding the Lewis Crossover on Oct. 11, before welcoming the rest of the conference to Romeoville, Ill. for the GLVC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 25. The NCAA Midwest Regional is set for Nov. 8 and NCAA Championships are scheduled for Nov. 22 with both races taking place in Kenosha, Wis.
For the latest news and updates on Lewis men's cross country, visit LewisFlyers.com and follow the Flyers on social media at @Lewisxctrack on Instagram and @LewisMXC on X.
