The Midwest Conference released its 2017 Men's Cross Country Coaches Poll on Wednesday and Lake Forest College was tied for fourth in the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head cross country coaches. Each coach votes for the other nine schools in the league in order of predicted finish at the 2017 MWC Championship Meet. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (nine points for first, eight for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
Jorge Villanueva placed 15th and Phillip Wilson 20th at the 2016 MWC Championships and both runners are back this season. Villanueva is a two-time All-MWC honoree, as is Jonathan Stern, who finished in the top 20 as a freshman and sophomore and led the team five times a season ago. The Foresters were fifth at last year's conference meet and have finished in the top half of the league each of the last three seasons.
Sixth-year head coach Dan Simpson's squad will compete in four meets before traveling to Illinois College for the 2017 MWC Championships on October 28.
Preseason Coaches Poll
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Grinnell College (5) | 77 |
| 2 | Cornell College (5) | 76 |
| 3 | Monmouth College | 58 |
| 4t | Lake Forest College | 56 |
| 4t | Lawrence University | 56 |
| 6 | St. Norbert College | 42 |
| 7 | Beloit College | 34 |
| 8 | Ripon College | 21 |
| 9 | Knox College | 20 |
| 10 | Illinois College | 10 |
