WSU moves into national top 30 in latest USTFCCCA coaches' poll as Dawgs drop...

NEW ORLEANS—The coaches who comprise the voters of the USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll did not take Washington’s loss at its home Sundodger Invitational last Saturday too kindly, as the Huskies dropped 13 spots from #8 to #21 in the latest poll released Tuesday.

Washington, which hasn’t won its own meet for the last three years, came off of a hard training block after returning to Seattle from their pre-season training camp on the Washington coast, and did not race 2015 NCAA competitors Fred Huxham and Johnathan Stevens.

The Washington State Cougar mens team moved into the national top 30 for the first time this season with their third straight win at Sundodger, as they were ranked #27 by the coaches.  

The Cougs ran six of their seven runners from last year’s NCAA championship team at Sundodger, including Michael Williams (left/photo by Paul Merca) and ran John Whelan unattached.  The Cougs did however, place seven runners in the top 10, to score a 24-40 win over Washington.

The nation’s top five teams on the men’s side are Syracuse, Northern Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, and Colorado.  Washington and Washington State are the only other Pac-12 schools ranked in the top 30.

On the women’s side, the Huskies dropped one spot from their previous ranking of #11 despite a convincing win at the Sundodger, where they placed six runners in the top ten, led by Charlotte Prouse and Katie Knight, and ran two freshmen who finished in the top 10—Kaitlyn Neal and Nokki Zielinski—unattached.

The nation’s top five teams this week are New Mexico, Providence, Colorado, Oregon, and North Carolina State.

Other Pac-12 teams ranked in the latest poll include #7 Stanford, and #26 Utah.

Washington and Washington State will see each other again on October 1st at the Washington Invitational at Jefferson Park Golf Course.

The USTFCCCA men’s poll is available here; the women’s poll is available here.

NOTE:  The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.