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Eagles No. 5 in Official Pre-season Poll

Jan. 9, 2008

On the morning of January 9th, Lax World and CollegeLax.us released the 2008 Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association Pre-season Top 25 poll for Division II. After being ranked 6th by Lacrosse Magazine three weeks ago, the official poll has tabbed Emory as the No. 5 team in the nation. Before today, the highest ranking the Eagles had ever attained in a CollegeLax poll was 7th.

In the polls you will find five teams that are on Emory's 2008 schedule. The second game of the season should be a good one as the Eagle's home opener has them facing off against conference opponent, #24 Elon. Elon is a strong team that fell to North Carolina-Charlotte in overtime of last year's conference semi-final.  

While the third weekend of February was supposed to feature games against #2 Saint John's and #3 Saint Thomas, the plans have been altered slightly as the Johnnies will not be making the trip to Atlanta. Saint Thomas defeated Emory last season 6-4 in a consolation game in Texas after both teams were eliminated in the national quarterfinals.

Next on the Birds' schedule are the Bison of Harding University who won the 2007 GRLC championship. Harding is currently holding down the No. 10 spot in the rankings and will play Emory on their home turf in Arkansas.

After taking on the University of Alabama at the end of February, Emory's remaning opponents will include SELC foes, Eckerd, Kennesaw State, Furman, and Tennessee Weslyan. The Tritons of Eckerd, the KSU Owls, the FU Paladins, and the TWC Bulldogs all earned honorable mention votes in the current poll. Eckerd won the region in 2006 and made an appearenance in the first round of last year's conference playoffs along with Furman. Kennesaw has been an in-state rival of Emory's since their program's inception in 2006 while Tennesse Weslyan is a first year program who is looking to make a name for itself in its inaugural season.

The SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference was also represented by the Savannah College of Art & Design and UNC-Charlotte in the division II pre-season poll. SCAD earned a national ranking of 11th while UNCC was voted into the No. 14 slot. Appalachian State was yet the ninth team of the SELC that could be found in the rankings as they were recognized for honroable mention votes.

Emory looks forward to a season in which their top 5 national ranking will be contested with every game as they will faceoff against some of the nation's best. The season begins for EU on February 2nd with a road game against Auburn, a Division I member of the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference.

To view the 2008 Laxworld MCLA Division II Preseason Poll click here.