ST. LOUIS - In conjunction with the Gateway Football Conference Media Day, three Western Illinois student-athletes were awarded spots on the league?s preseason all-conference team, and one more was placed on the honorable mention list. The Leathernecks were predicted to finish sixth according to the league?s preseason poll, just nine days before the start of fall camp.Senior Boomer Moore was the only tight end named to the 2006 Gateway Preseason Team while senior Chad Walker was one of five offensive linemen honored. Also on the list was junior Jerome Bennett, one of just four linebackers mentioned. Senior wide receiver Marco Thomas earned honorable mention status.UNI, with its 22 first-place votes, emerged as the league?s preseason favorite, according to the ballots of conference coaches, media and sports information directors. Youngstown State was picked second and received seven first-place votes, followed by Illinois State, which received a pair of votes for the top spot. Southern Illinois was predicted to finish fourth, followed by Western Kentucky. Below Western Illinois was Missouri State and Indiana State.?(The poll) is fully what I expected,? said Western Illinois head coach Don Patterson. ?We?ve been able to win after being picked fourth and after being picked fifth, so why not sixth? No matter where you sit in the preseason predictions, there is no better preparation for the playoffs than the Gateway schedule. Everyone knows the Gateway schedule is a meat grinder and nothing is going to change this year. I think this is going to be one of the tightest races we?ve ever had.?Our players have gained a lot of confidence with our defensive scheme. They understood what was expected of them a lot more at the end of the season than at the beginning, and that gives us a great chance to build on that modest success we had at the end of the year. It?s significant to finish on a strong note because it gives you momentum into the next season.?