Last November the Wayland Baptist men's cross country team won runner-up honors at the NAIA Championship in Vancouver, Wash. That performance helped earn the Pioneers a second place ranking in the 2011 NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, released by the national office on Wednesday afternoon.

Defending national champion Southern Oregon University received 15 of the 18 first place votes and racked up 496 points to land in the number one position. The Pioneers got two of the three remaining first place votes and received 480 points.

Fellow Sooner Athletic Conference member, Oklahoma Christian University totaled 453 votes to come in at number three, followed by Shorter College, which received the other first place vote and tallied 447 points.

WBU returns all six team members from last year's national meet, including the reigning individual national champion, Kennedy Kithuka, and three others who finished among the top 16, earning All-American honors.

The cross country season at Wayland officially gets underway on September 9 in Canyon, Texas.