INDIANAPOLIS – Both of Missouri-St. Louis's cross country teams were picked to finish in the top 10 of the Great Lakes Valley Conference as the league released the preseason polls Friday for those sports for the upcoming 2024 season.

UMSL's men's team, who placed fourth at the 2024 GLVC Championships, were picked to finish sixth while the women's team was tabbed for a ninth place finish in the 15-team conference. The Tritons finished eighth in the women's event last season.

The Triton men return two All-GLVC performers from a year ago in Benjamin VandenBrink and Jacob Warner. VandenBrink finished as the runner-up at the conference meet while Warner was fifth in the eight-kilometer race. VandenBrink went onto finish 10th at the Midwest Regional and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship meet. The Tritons squad for the 2024 campaign also includes Sam Savastino who finished 29th at the conference meet and Emmett Johnson and Julio Cruz Jr. who were 41st and 43rd respectively at the conference championships.

Lewis was picked to capture this year's championship by a 15-point margin over Illinois Springfield, while Drury, Missouri S&T and Southwest Baptist rounded out the top five. Only 13 of the 15 GLVC schools compete in men's cross country as Upper Iowa and conference newcomer Lincoln do not have a men's cross country program.

Lewis was also picked to capture the women's championship in unanimous fashion as the Flyers will look to win its third straight conference title. Southwest Baptist was picked second and Drury was placed in the third spot in the standings. Lewis got all 14 first place votes it could receive as Truman State got the other first place vote as coaches could not vote for their own teams.

Truman State, Indianapolis and Illinois Springfield were in the next three spots in the preseason poll.

The Tritons return their top three finishers from the conference meet last season in Kayley Heeter who led UMSL with a 24th-place showing. Bella Massaro and Lily Wagemann finished 36th and 37th respectively.

UMSL opens its cross country season on Sept. 6 when it takes part in the UIS Prairie Star Invitational in Springfield, Ill.

2024 GLVC Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll

Rank	School	Points (1st-place votes)
1.	Lewis	142 (11)
2.	Illinois Springfield	127 (1)
3.	Drury	123 (1)
4.	Missouri S&T	103
5.	Southwest Baptist	95
6.	Missouri-St. Louis	90
7.	Indianapolis	85
8.	Truman State	72
9.	Maryville	58
10.	Rockhurst	46
11.	McKendree	32
12.	Quincy	21
13.	William Jewell	20

2024 GLVC Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll

Rank	School	Points (1st-place votes)
1.	Lewis	196 (14)
2.	Southwest Baptist	167
3.	Drury	163
4.	Truman State	151 (1)
5.	Indianapolis	150
6.	Illinois Springfield	141
7.	Missouri S&T	119
8.	Maryville	97
9.	Missouri-St. Louis	96
10.	Rockhurst	92
11.	McKendree	64
12.	Upper Iowa	43
13.	William Jewell	37
14.	Lincoln	31
15.	Quincy	28