Austintown, OH-The Mount Union men and Otterbein women have been tabbed as the favorites in the Indoor Track & Field poll during preseason voting by the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) coaches.
Mount Union tallied 80 points (eight first-place votes) in the men’s poll, followed by John Carroll with 70 points (two first-place votes), Ohio Northern with 62 points, Otterbein with 59 points and Baldwin Wallace with 48 points.
The Purple Raiders are led by head coach Kevin Lucas, who is in his tenth year at Mount Union.
Last season, Mount Union claimed its seventh straight Conference title, winning six out of 19 events. The Purple Raiders tallied 187.5 points which was 76.5 points ahead of second place John Carroll (111).
On the women side, Otterbein tallied 79 points (seven first-place votes), followed by Mount Union with 70 points (two first-place votes), John Carroll with 67 points (one first place vote), Ohio Northern with 57 points and Baldwin Wallace with 46 points.
A year ago, the Cardinals won their first indoor title since 2007 with 144 points, 16 points ahead of Ohio Northern (128). Otterbein won three out of 19 events and placed second five more events. Otterbein earned the 2018 OAC Coaching Staff of the Year and will be led by fifth-year head coach Dara Ford.
Below is a complete summary of how all 10 OAC schools fared in the preseason Conference coaches’ polls.
|
Women’s Coaches’ Poll |
Men’s Coaches’ Poll |
||||
|
Rank |
School |
Points |
Rank |
School |
Points |
|
1. |
Otterbein (7) |
79 |
1. |
Mount Union (8) |
80 |
|
2. |
Mount Union (2) |
70 |
2. |
John Carroll (2) |
70 |
|
3. |
John Carroll (1) |
67 |
3. |
Ohio Northern |
62 |
|
4. |
Ohio Northern |
57 |
4. |
Otterbein |
59 |
|
5. |
Baldwin Wallace |
46 |
5. |
Baldwin Wallace |
48 |
|
6. |
Heidelberg |
42 |
6. |
Heidelberg |
42 |
|
7. |
Capital |
32 |
7. |
Wilmington |
30 |
|
8. |
Muskingum |
25 |
8. |
Capital |
27 |
|
9. |
Wilmington |
22 |
9. |
Muskingum |
17 |
|
10. |
Marietta |
10 |
10. |
Marietta |
15 |