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HBCU Athletic Conference

2024 Preseason Men's Cross Country All-HBCUAC Team, Rankings Announced

Javoun Goldsby was the 2023 GCAC Runner-Up.
Javoun Goldsby was the 2023 GCAC Runner-Up.
August 30, 2024

NEW ORLEANS - August 29, 2024 - The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) reveals its 2024 Preseason Men's Cross Country All-HBCUAC Team and Team Rankings, as voted on by the conference head coaches. Points are derived by the order each coach ranks athletes and teams.

Leading the pack as the Preseason HBCUAC Runner of the Year is 2023 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championship Runner-up and two-time GCAC Runner of the Week Javoun Goldsby of Wiley University. He ran a personal best 29:14.5 in the 2023 GCAC Championship which was 0.1 seconds behind the champion Desmond Merritt. Goldsby, who received 26 points, was the Wildcats top runner all season, helping them to a runner-up finish.Joining Goldsby on the 2024 All-HBCUAC Team are:

Kavan Wooten of Tougaloo College: Finished 15th in the 2023 GCAC Championship
Decquan Nesbitt of Talladega College: Finished third at the 2023 GCAC Championship
Maurice Rue-Winfield of Philander Smith University: Finished fourth at the 2023 GCAC Championship
Amos Metto of Stillman College: ran 27:40.8 at the 2023 Southern States Athletic Conference Championship

The HBCUAC also released its 2024 Team Rankings, determined by the conference coaches. Philander Smith University which won the last two GCAC Championships is favored to defend its title, as it garnered 80 points and four first-place votes. Wiley University which finished runner-up in the last two championships, followed with 72 points and two first-place votes. Below are the complete rankings:

 

  1. Philander Smith (80)

  2. Wiley

  3. Tougaloo College

  4. Talladega College

  5. Dillard University

  6. Stillman College

  7. Rust College

  8. University of the Virgin Islands

  9. Fisk University

  10. Voorhees University

  11. Wilberforce University

 

Fans can keep up with the action by following the HBCUAC and their respective institution's social media accounts. For the third straight season, the 2024 HBCUAC Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship will be held at the Oakville Indian Mounds Cross Country Course in Danville, Ala. on October 18 and will be streamed live on HBCU-Plus.

-HBCUAC-

About HBCU Athletic Conference:
The HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) is the only HBCU conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The HBCUAC membership includes Dillard University (LA), Fisk University (TN), Oakwood University (AL), Philander Smith University (AR), Rust College (MS), Southern University at New Orleans (LA), Stillman College (AL), Talladega College (AL), Tougaloo College (MS), University of the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), Voorhees University (SC), Wilberforce University (OH), and Wiley University (TX). HBCUAC sponsors championships in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track and field, women's volleyball, and baseball. In 2022, the HBCUAC secured the largest media rights deal in conference and NAIA history, signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Urban Edge Network. On July 1, 2024, the conference rebranded from the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) to the HBCU Athletic Conference, marking a new era for the conference that embodies the makeup of its membership. For more information, visit hbcuac.org.