W&J DEBUTS AS NO. 21 TEAM IN D3FOOTBALL.COM PRESEASON POLL (8/5)

WASHINGTON, Pa. –  D3football.com released its Top 25 preseason poll on Thursday and Washington & Jefferson College earned the website’s No. 21 spot. 

The D3football.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.  The national website is producing a weekly poll for the eighth consecutive year. 

Defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater picked up 20 of the 25 first-place votes and is the preseason No. 1 team with 620 points.  Mount Union (604) is second after collecting five first-place votes, while Wesley (541), Linfield (512) and St. Thomas (496) round out the top five.

Two-time defending Presidents’ Athletic Conference champion Thomas More (253) is 13th.  W&J received 114 points.  Washington & Jefferson’s week one opponent, Delaware Valley, is 10th after notching 311 points. 

W&J also earned top 25 mentions during the summer by The Sporting News (13th), USA Today Sports Weekly (19th) and Lindy’s (21st). 

Washington & Jefferson returns 38 letter winners and 12 starters from last year’s team which made its sixth-straight appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs.  W&J joins Mount Union and Mary Hardin-Baylor as the only other programs to accomplish that feat.

The Presidents open their eighth preseason camp under Head Coach Mike Sirianni on Saturday, August 21st.  The team’s intra-squad scrimmage will be held on August 28th at 4:00 pm at Cameron Stadium.  W&J and Mount Union will hold their annual scrimmage at Cameron Stadium during the final week of preseason camp on Sept. 1st at 6:00 pm. 

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