Some coaches are afraid to publicly state their expectations, in case they fall short of them.

Not Derek Fey.

The College of Saint Mary cross country coach had this bold preseason assessment of his team: "I expect this group to be our strongest team in program history.''

Coming off a tie for their best finish in Great Plains Athletic Conference history (sixth), the Flames are gearing for their season debut on Sept. 14 at the Sunflower Opener in Sioux Center, Iowa.

CSM has been picked seventh among the 12 teams in the GPAC preseason poll voted on by the coaches, just behind Northwestern and just ahead of Midland. Dordt is the preseason favorite, garnering nine of the 12 first-place votes, with second-place Concordia getting the other three.

The Flames lost a pair of key athletes from last season's team in two-time national qualifier Chloe Inhelder along with Lorena Ramirez. But they return an abundance of talent and experience, led by seniors Brooke Wigdahl and Autumn Simons, juniors Corinne Mead and Kiley Craft, and sophomore Yenifer Juan Jesus.

That group will set the tone, Fey said.

"Our returning group put in a ton of summer mileage and are ready to do things we haven't done since joining the GPAC,'' he said.

The Flames will add a gifted freshman class to the mix. That gets Fey excited.

"We have the strongest freshman class coming in since I've been here,'' he said. "They'll have to maneuver college running, but once they figure it out they're going to be tough.''

Building camaraderie has been a priority in the preseason.

"We've had a few good workouts so far, but we're just getting to know one another,'' Fey said. "There has been a lot of working together during workouts, and we will have to continue that trend to be successful this fall.

"We have a great mix of experience with talent,'' he continued. "Our biggest goal will be making sure we close the gap with our top group.''

The College of Saint Mary will host the GPAC Championships on Nov. 9 at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Neb., where they hope to better last year's sixth-place effort.

"I fully expect to finish higher this fall,'' Fey said.