PROVO, Utah – The 2012 collegiate season begins this weekend for the BYU men’s and women’s cross country teams with strong preseason rankings at the regional and national levels.
In the men's regional poll, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) gave BYU the top seed above Mountain Region rivals New Mexico, Colorado and Northern Arizona. The men’s team finished first in last year’s regional championships above the same three teams.
In the national poll, the men are predicted to finish third behind Wisconsin and Oklahoma, an improvement on last year’s fourth-place finish.
In the women’s regional poll, the USTFCCA allotted BYU a third-place finish behind Weber State and Colorado. In the national poll, the women were selected to finish 28th.
For more updates and information on rankings throughout the reason, visit http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-i-rankings.
| Men's Mountain Region Poll | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | School | Location | Conference | 2011 Finish |
| 1 | BYU | Provo, Utah | West Coast | 1 |
| 2 | New Mexico | Albuquerque, N.M. | Mountain West | 4 |
| 3 | Colorado | Boulder, Colo. | Pac-12 | 2 |
| 4 | Northern Arizona | Flagstaff, Ariz. | Big Sky | 3 |
| 5 | Weber State | Odgen, Utah | Big Sky | 6 |
| 6 | Southern Utah | Cedar City, Utah | Big Sky | 5 |
| 7 | Air Force | Colorado Springs, Colo. | Mountain West | 8 |
| 8 | Utah State | Logan, Utah | WAC | 7 |
| 9 | Colorado State | Fort Collins, Colo. | Mountain West | 10 |
| 10 | Wyoming | Laramie, Wyo. | Mountain West | 9 |
| 11 | UTEP | El Paso, Texas | USA | 11 |
| 12 | New Mexico State | Las Cruces, N.M. | WAC | 12 |
| 13 | Montana State | Bozeman, Mont. | Big Sky | 13 |
| 14 | Utah Valley | Orem, Utah | Great West | 14 |
| 15 | Idaho State | Pocatello, Idaho | Big Sky | 15 |
| Men's National Poll | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | School | Votes | First-place votes |
| 1 | Wisconsin | 357 | 10 |
| 2 | Oklahoma State | 345 | 1 |
| 3 | BYU | 338 | 1 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 299 | -- |
| 5 | Colorado | 297 | -- |
| 6 | Texas | 291 | -- |
| 7 | Portland | 282 | -- |
| 8 | Iona | 278 | -- |
| 9 | Stanford | 251 | -- |
| 10 | Florida State | 231 | -- |
| 11 | NC State | 226 | -- |
| 12 | Syracuse | 216 | -- |
| 13 | Indiana | 206 | -- |
| 14 | Georgetown | 191 | -- |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 178 | -- |
| 16 | Villanova | 149 | -- |
| 17 | Northern Arizona | 141 | -- |
| 18 | Minnesota | 133 | -- |
| 19 | Michigan | 131 | -- |
| 20 | Tulsa | 129 | -- |
| 21 | Princeton | 121 | -- |
| 22 | Oregon | 118 | -- |
| 23 | Arkansas | 95 | -- |
| 24 | New Mexico | 87 | -- |
| 25 | Notre Dame | 81 | -- |
| 26 | Washington State | 71 | -- |
| 27 | Columbia | 62 | -- |
| 28 | Georgia | 58 | -- |
| 29 | Eastern Kentucky | 55 | -- |
| 30 | UCLA | 44 | -- |
| Women's Mountain Region Poll | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | School | Location | Conference | 2011 Finish |
| 1 | Weber State | Ogden, Utah | Big Sky | 3 |
| 2 | Colorado | Boulder, Colo. | Pac-12 | 1 |
| 3 | BYU | Provo, Utah | West Coast | 4 |
| 4 | Northern Arizona | Flagstaff, Ariz. | Big Sky | 7 |
| 5 | New Mexico | Albuquerque, N.M. | Mountain West | 1 |
| 6 | Utah | Salt Lake City, Utah | Pac-12 | 8 |
| 7 | Texas Tech | Lubbock, Texas | Big 12 | 6 |
| 8 | Colorado State | Fort Collins, Colo. | Mountain West | 5 |
| 9 | New Mexico State | Las Cruces, N.M. | WAC | 10 |
| 10 | Wyoming | Laramie, Wyo. | Mountain West | 12 |
| 11 | Idaho State | Pocatello, Idaho | Big Sky | 9 |
| 12 | Air Force | Colorado Springs, Colo. | Mountain West | 13 |
| 13 | UTEP | El Paso, Texas | USA | 14 |
| 14 | Southern Utah | Cedar City, Utah | Big Sky | 11 |
| 15 | Montana | Missoula, Mont. | Big Sky | 16 |
| Women's National Poll | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | School | Votes | First-place votes |
| 1 | Oregon | 345 | 4 |
| 2 | Washington | 343 | 5 |
| 3 | Georgetown | 337 | 2 |
| 4 | Florida State | 334 | 1 |
| 5 | Iowa State | 289 | -- |
| 6 | Vanderbilt | 277 | -- |
| 7 | Providence | 270 | -- |
| 8 | Stanford | 267 | -- |
| 9 | Syracuse | 246 | -- |
| 10 | Villanova | 226 | -- |
| 11 | Arkansas | 222 | -- |
| 12 | Michigan | 218 | -- |
| 13 | Colorado | 210 | -- |
| 14 | Arizona | 204 | -- |
| 15 | Princeton | 196 | -- |
| 16 | Boston College | 193 | -- |
| 17 | Michigan State | 178 | -- |
| 18 | Virginia | 163 | -- |
| 19 | Weber State | 150 | -- |
| 20 | San Francisco | 133 | -- |
| 21 | West Virginia | 124 | -- |
| 22 | Notre Dame | 112 | -- |
| 23 | Toledo | 103 | -- |
| 24 | Oklahoma State | 82 | -- |
| 25 | NC State | 76 | -- |
| 26 | Texas | 72 | -- |
| 27 | Minnesota | 37 | -- |
| 28 | Brigham Young | 35 | -- |
| 29 | Wisconsin | 31 | -- |
| 30 | Cornell | 25 | -- |