BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Charleston men’s cross country team was unanimously voted to repeat as the 2023 Mountain East Conference Men’s Cross Country Champions following a vote of the league’s 11 head coaches.

Charleston won the 2022 MEC Men’s Cross Country title and also took first place at the NCAA Atlantic Regional last fall. The Golden Eagles went on to place eighth in the nation at the 2022 NCAA National Championships in University Place, Washington. Individually, UC had two All-American performers in the championship race.

The MEC was well represented in the 2022 NCAA National Championship race, with Charleston and Concord qualifying as teams and Davis & Elkins’ Emeric Arnaud earning individual qualification.

In preseason voting, Charleston received 10 first-place votes and the maximum of 100 points. Davis & Elkins was second in the preseason voting with 88 points and the remaining first-place vote. Concord (84), West Liberty (69) and West Virginia Wesleyan (61) rounded out the top five.

Frostburg State (54), Fairmont State (49), Glenville State (38), Wheeling (33), West Virginia State (15) and Notre Dame (14) completed the bottom half of the bracket. West Virginia State and Notre Dame College are both first-year cross country programs.

The 2023 men’s cross country season will get underway this Friday (Sept. 1) for several MEC programs. The 2023 MEC Cross Country Championship is set for Saturday, Oct. 21 at Oglebay Resort’s Crispin Golf Course.