Southeast Missouri State cross country coach Miles Krieger knows his teams are long shots to contend for Ohio Valley Conference titles.
That's mainly due to the presence of perennial OVC power Eastern Kentucky, which swept last year's championships and are favored heavily to repeat.
But Krieger expects Southeast's men and women to again push for upper-division finishes in the 10-team conference.
Southeast's men were fourth in last year's OVC meet, and return most of their top runners. Southeast's women placed third in 2007, but were hit harder by graduation.