GREENVILLE, S.C. – Four-time defending Conference Carolinas men's cross country champion, UNC Pembroke has been picked as the favorite in the 2026 Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll.
The Braves received 10 first place votes and 200 points to land on top of the poll ahead of Young Harris College's 191 points and four first place votes. Southern Wesleyan University and Converse University both finished with 172 points to tie for third. Lees-McRae College's 149 points land the Bobcats in fifth while North Greenville University received 146 points, including the final first place vote, to take the sixth spot.
Belmont Abbey College comes in seventh with 140 points, followed by the University of Mount Olive's 119 points in eighth. Barton College (102) and Emmanuel University (98) rounded out the top 10.
King University (85), Erskine College (73), Ferrum College (62), Francis Marion (46) and Chowan University (26) concluded the poll.
The 2026 Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country Championship will take place on Saturday, November 7 at 10:15 a.m. at Milliken Research Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The preseason poll was voted on by the league's head coaches and they can't vote for their own school.
2026 Conference Carolinas
Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
|
School |
Points (1st place) |
| 1 |
UNC Pembroke |
200 (10) |
| 2 |
Young Harris |
191 (4) |
| T3 |
Southern Wesleyan |
172 |
| T3 |
Converse |
172 |
| 5 |
Lees-McRae |
149 |
| 6 |
North Greenville |
146 (1) |
| 7 |
Belmont Abbey |
140 |
| 8 |
Mount Olive |
119 |
| 9 |
Barton |
102 |
| 10 |
Emmanuel |
98 |
| 11 |
King |
85 |
| 12 |
Erskine |
73 |
| 13 |
Ferrum |
62 |
| 14 |
Francis Marion |
46 |
| 15 |
Chowan |
26 |
2026 Conference Carolinas Men's Cross Country
Players to Watch
Barton
- Trey Lamm, Jr., Lucama, North Carolina
- Brandon Waller, Jr., Cabot, Arkansas
- Hayden Tyndall, So., Pink Hill, North Carolina
Belmont Abbey
- Michael Bullock, So., Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2025 All-Conference Carolinas third team)
- Martin O'Rourke, So., Berwyn, Pennsylvania
- Kolbe Zuniga, Sr., Spring, Texas
Chowan
- Kyman Little, Sr., High Point, North Carolina
- Kevin Padilla, So., Wilson, North Carolina
- Ja'Qual Clanton, Sr., Weldon, North Carolina
Converse
- Alex Porter, Jr., Simpsonville, South Carolina (2025 All-Conference second team)
- Marti Ruiz Barreda, Jr., Girona, Spain
- Ander Vera Moleres, Jr., Pamplona, Spain (2025 All-Conference third team, 2024 All-Conference second team)
Emmanuel
- Angel Aviles, So., Dalton, Georgia
- Zaylen Alexander, Jr., Stockbridge, Georgia
- Will Gipson, Fr., Royston, Georgia
Erskine
- Matthew Penland, Sr., Walhalla, South Carolina
- Colby Wines, Sr., Spartanburg, South Carolina
- Ekaitz Tejado, Jr., San Sebastian, Spain
Ferrum
- Zachary Konieczka, Fr., Fuquay, North Carolina
- Damani Veney-Epps, So., Baltimore, Maryland
- Tyler Elliott, Fr., Purcellville, Virginia
Francis Marion
- Luis Cedeno, So., Florence, South Carolina
- Dalton Horton, Fr., Inman, South Carolina
- Caleb Gary, Jr., Greenville, South Carolina
King
- Cole Johnson, Jr., Lexington, North Carolina
- Mario Ruda Puertas, Fr., Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
- Evan Deichert, Sr., Knoxville, Tennessee
Lees-McRae
- Hylan Cauoette, Fr., Omaha, Nebraska
- Will Johnson, Fr., Greensboro, North Carolina
- Domenic Bruzzo-Morello, So., Marion, Virginia
Mount Olive
- Ayden Thompson, Jr., East Peoria, Illinois
- Artem Meltsaiev, Jr., Ivana Piddubongo, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Leo Powell, So., Derby, United Kingdom
UNC Pembroke
- Ed Carney, So., Jersey, Channel Islands (2025 Conference Carolinas individual champion, Conference Carolinas Runner of the Year and first team all-conference)
- Ryan Ibarra, Jr., Wilmington, North Carolina (2025 All-Conference Carolinas third team)
- Kevlin Kibet, Jr., Eldoret, Kenya (2025 All-Conference Carolinas first team)
North Greenville
-
Josephy McBride, So., Moore, South Carolina
Josiah Ashton, So., Simpsonville, South Carolina
Parker Branham, Fr., Lexington, South Carolina
Southern Wesleyan
- Mayson Harward, Fr., Greenville, South Carolina
- Braeden Caldwell, Fr., Festus, Missouri
- Ryan Hunter, Sr., Inman, South Carolina (2025 NAIA National Championships Qualifier, All-Appalachian Athletic Conference first team, 2024 Continental Athletic Conference second team, 2023 NJCAA All-Region 10 first team and region runner-up, NJCAA National Championships qualifier)
Young Harris
- Xander Potter, Jr., Zebulon, Georgia (2025 All-Conference Carolinas third team)
- Austin Dezwart, Jr., Lawrenceville, Georgia (2025 All-Conference Carolinas second team)
- Aidan Vrazel, So., Atlanta, Georgia (2025 All-Conference Carolinas first team)