RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - On Tuesday, August 19, the Great American Conference released the 2025 Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll that has the reigning GAC champions, the East Central Tigers, ranked first with seven of the eight first-place votes. Going into his second season as the Mulerider Cross Country/Track & Field head coach, James Bowlin's Muleriders will begin the campaign tied for fifth overall squad according to the league's coaches.
Southern Arkansas is voted into fifth-place for the conference with 22 points, in which the team is nine points ahead of Southern Nazarene and is tied with Northwestern Oklahoma State.
12 Muleriders from the 2024 roster make their return, including lead-runner
Wesley Maxwell, who comes back for his senior year at SAU. Other returners for Southern Arkansas consist of
Brandon Escobar,
Isaac Gass,
Charles Patton,
Joseph Uc,
Johnny Hart,
Fintan Lehman,
Hez Morris,
Lyndon Orr,
Gary Smith, and
Enrico Tapia. Along with the twelve returners, Bowlin adds seven newcomers to his second group of Mulerider Men.
The Mulerider Men competed in five meets last fall as they finished 4
th of 16 at the Mississippi College Season Opener (Clinton, Miss. | Sep. 6), finished 7
th of 18 at the Southern Stampede (Joplin, Mo. | Sep. 20), finished 14
th of 41 at the Old Glory Gallop (Dallas, Texas | Oct. 5), finished 2
nd of 6 at the Ouachita Tiger Invitational (Arkadelphia, Ark. | Oct. 11), and then finished 6
th of 8 at the 2024 Great American Conference Cross Country Championships (Oct. 26). At the meet, the Muleriders were led by Maxwell, as the then junior finished 27
th with a time of 26:56.3.
For the 2025 season, Southern Arkansas is penciled in for five meets heading into Coach Bowlin's second year with his Muleriders. Four of the five meets are set to take place in the Natural State. To start the campaign, SAU travels to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, for the Bob Gravett Invitational hosted by Ouachita Baptist (Sep. 6). Just about two weeks after that meet, the Muleriders are set to host the Lois Davis Invitational once again on the campus of Southern Arkansas University (Sep. 19). Keeping it in-state, Southern Arkansas travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Chile Pepper Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas (Oct. 4). For the team's first and only regular season meet outside of Arkansas, SAU heads to Dallas, Texas for the Old Glory Gallop hosted by Dallas Baptist University (Oct. 11). Back in the Natural State for the final meet of the already scheduled season, the Muleriders drive out to Monticello, Arkansas for the 2025 GAC Cross Country Championships (Oct. 25).
