The Nike Team National Southeast Pre-Season Rankings were released on Monday, August 21. The Trinity Shamrocks of Louisville have opened the Cross Country season ranked #2 in the Southeast. Trinity Coach Chad Waggoner said, "This is quite an honor…surprising but still an honor." The top two teams at the end of the season in the Nike Team Nationals Rankings qualify for the National race in Portland, Oregon on December 2, 2006.
The Shamrocks will be running in the Fourth Annual McDonald's X-Country Festival at Maymont in Virginia. This race will feature four other teams ranked in the NTN Pre-Season Rankings.
Trinity's nationally-ranked team is led by three seniors: Ethan Short, Sean Darrow, and Thomas Noel. Short is the top returning runner from last season's Kentucky State Meet.
Waggoner added about his team, "This is a hard working bunch of guys. They show up for practice and do what they need to do to become better." Trinity's varsity team will run this Saturday at the Daviess County 6K Relay.
Trinity, last year's Class AAA Kentucky State Meet team runner-up, is ranked #1 in the KytrackXC.com/KTCCCA Pre-Season Team Rankings for Kentucky.