Both UW squads & Gonzaga men ranked in top 30 in USTFCCCA preseason poll...

NEW ORLEANS--Both University of Washington cross country teams will start the 2021 cross country season ranked among the country's top fifteen squads, according to the national top-30 pre-season coaches poll released by the USTFCCCA on Tuesday.

The Washington women, who were 13th in the delayed 2020 championship meet held in March, are ranked number 10 in the pre-season poll, led by senior Allie Schadler (Paul Merca photo), who earned her first cross country All-America certificate when she finished 26th.

The Husky mens' team begin the season ranked number 13 after finishing a disappointing 25th at the NCAAs in March.

Gonzaga, who qualified its men's team for the first time in school history in March, begins the season ranked number 27 in the country.

The top five women's teams in the coaches' poll are in order: Defending champ Brigham Young, North Carolina State, Stanford, New Mexico, and Michigan State.

Other teams from the Pac-12 in the national top 30 include number 8 Colorado, and number 22 Oregon State.

The top five men's teams in the poll are in order: Defending champ Northern Arizona, Notre Dame, BYU, Oregon, and Stanford.

Other teams from the Pac-12 include number 12 Colorado, while Portland at number 16 is the other team from the West Coast Conference ranked in the national top 30 along with BYU and Gonzaga.

The USTFCCCA release is available here.

All five of the state's NCAA Division I schools are in action this week, as Washington State opens their season Wednesday afternoon at the WSU Open in Colfax.

Friday, Washington hosts Seattle University at 10 am at Magnuson Park at the UW/SeattleU Open, while Eastern Washington hosts Gonzaga at the Clash of the Inland Northwest on their campus course at 10 am.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA and the sports information offices of Gonzaga and the University of Washington contributed to this report.

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