STEPHENVILLE - The Tarleton men's cross country team cracked the top 10 in the preseason rankings released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association this week.

"It's like I said at media day, rankings are a good motivator one way or another," said Tarleton head coach Pat Ponder. "For the guys, being ranked 10th in the region is good and I hope they move forward with that and get better.

"For the other girls, it's a motivator because they weren't ranked," he added. "They're going to use that to practice diligently everyday. I will say this for sure, though, we have without a doubt the toughest region in Division II cross country. Being ranked is a huge honor for our guys."

Tarleton is one of two teams to reach the top 10 of the South Central regional poll, joining Eastern New Mexico who checked in at No. 5.

The other eight teams in the USTFCCCA poll are from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, who Tarleton will now compete against following a regional shift in alignment. The new region puts the Lone Star Conference in a region with the Heartland Conference and the RMAC.

At LSC Media Day, Tarleton was picked to finish fifth in the conference.

The Texans return four runners from last year, including all-conference sophomore Chase Rathke. Tye Doty, Miles Joslin and Brian Cooper have also returned to run for Tarleton.

They will be joined by spring track and field runner Stefan Campos and six freshmen.

Tarleton begins its season August 31 at the Baylor Twilight in Waco.