GREENVILLE, S.C. –- Belmont Abbey has been picked in a tie for fifth in the Conference Carolinas Men's Indoor Track & Field preseason poll, the league office announced today. Voting was conducted among the 11 head coaches.
The Crusaders earned 58 points in the poll, the same total as Southern Wesleyan. Mount Olive, six-time defending champions, collected 94 points and eight first-place votes to edge 2022 conference runner-up UNC Pembroke, who received 93 points and the final three first-place nods. North Greenville was picked third with 82 points, while Emmanuel was fourth with 67 points.
Lees-McRae earned 44 points to take the sixth spot and was followed by Barton and Erskine (33) in seventh, King (24) in ninth and Converse (19) in 10th.
The 2023 Conference Carolinas Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held on February 19-20 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston Salem, N.C. The Abbey open its season there on Saturday in the 2022 College Kick-off.
The conference also provided three Crusaders to watch this season. Senior Thomas Thierfelder, the 2021 800-meter champion and 2022 800-meter runner-up, was joined by freshman Joshua Gulapa and senior Ryan Kohlhagen on the list
| 2022-23 Conference Carolinas Men's Indoor Track and Field Preseason Poll |
| School |
Total (First Place) |
| Mount Olive |
94 (8) |
| UNC Pembroke |
93 (3) |
| North Greenville |
82 |
| Emmanuel |
67 |
| Belmont Abbey |
58 |
| Southern Wesleyan |
58 |
| Lees-McRae |
44 |
| Barton |
33 |
| Erskine |
33 |
| King |
24 |
| Converse |
19 |
