Both UW squads & Gonzaga men's team ranked in USTFCCCA national poll...

NEW ORLEANS--The USTFCCCA released the initial 2020 NCAA Division I national cross country rankings Tuesday (27 October), and both University of Washington squads, along with the Gonzaga men's team are ranked in the top 30.

The Washington women's team, which finished 11th at last year's NCAA championship in Terre Haute, Indiana, are ranked eighth in the coaches' pre-season poll.

The Dawgs return from last year's national championship squad All-American Melany Smart (left/photo by Paul Merca), along with Shona McCulloch, Haley Herberg, Camila David-Smith, and Allie Schadler.

The top five women's teams according to the coaches' panel are in order: defending national champion Arkansas, New Mexico, BYU, North Carolina State, and Stanford.

Other Pac-12 schools in the women's national top 30 include #7 Colorado, #18 Utah, #19 Oregon State, and #24 Oregon.

Schools from the West region voted onto the top 30 by the coaches include #14 Boise State, and #28 Cal Baptist.

On the men's side, Washington is ranked number 20, while Gonzaga is ranked in the pre-season top 30 for the first time in program history at number 30.

The nation's top five men's team according to the coaches' panel are in order: Northern Arizona, defending champion BYU, Arkansas, Stanford, and Oklahoma State.

Pac-12 schools ranked in the top 30 include number 9 Colorado, and #14 Oregon.

Portland is the only other men's team from the West region ranked, as the coaches pegged the Pilots at number 8.

The national coaches' poll could potentially have some influence over which teams are selected for the NCAA cross country championships, which are scheduled for March 15, 2021 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, hosted by Oklahoma State University.

Due to the global pandemic, the NCAA coaches' committee opted to eliminate the regional championship meet, and will go by a coaches' committee to select the teams and individuals going to the NCAA championships on March 6th, one day after the final conference championship meets are run.

The Western Athletic Conference is scheduled to hold its conference championship on February 27th at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle, hosted by Seattle University.

While nothing has been made official, Utah is tentatively scheduled to host the Pac-12 cross country championship meet on March 5th, though conference sources have told paulmerca.blogspot.com that the venue could potentially be switched to the Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, with the University of Washington the host school. 

The USTFCCCA women's poll is available here, while the men's poll can be accessed here.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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