Huskies and Bulldog men's and women's squads nationally ranked in USTFCCCA pre-season poll...
NEW ORLEANS--With the official start of the 2022 collegiate cross country season only one day away, the USTFCCCA released its Division I pre-season rankings, and the men's and women's teams from both Washington and Gonzaga are in the national top-30 to begin the season.
The nation's top five men's teams to start the season are in order: defending national champion Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, Stanford, BYU, and Colorado.
No other Pac-12 teams made the national top 30 besides Stanford, Colorado and UW.
Number 15 Portland is the only other team besides BYU and Gonzaga in the national top 30 from the West Coast Conference.
The Washington women start 2022 also ranked number eight, while Gonzaga's women's squad begins the season in the number 23 position.
The nation's top five women's teams in the pre-season poll are in order: defending champ North Carolina State, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma State, and Stanford.
Besides Stanford and Washington, ranked Pac-12 teams include number 18 Utah, number 19 Oregon, and number 25 Oregon State.
Number 7 BYU is the only other women's team besides Gonzaga ranked in the national top 30.
The USTFCCCA release is available here.
EASTERN WASHINGTON HOSTS CLASH OF THE INLAND NW, WHILE WASHINGTON STATE RUNS AT WSU INVITATIONAL...
The 2022 cross country season officially gets underway Thursday morning in Cheney, as Eastern Washington hosts the Clash of the Inland Northwest meet on the school's athletic fields.
The men will open the meet at 9 a.m. with a 6,000-meter race, with the women competing after with a 4,000-meter race at 9:45 a.m.
Teams entered in the meet include nationally ranked Gonzaga, Montana State University, Lewis-Clark State, Spokane Community Colleges, Whitman University, Whitworth University and Walla Walla University.
Justin Roosma leads the Eagles. He was the Eagles' top finisher at both the 2021 Big Sky Conference XC Championship and the NCAA Division I West Region XC Championship. Roosma placed 16th for the Big Sky Conference, with a time of 24:18 for the men's 8K race. At the NCAA Division I XC Championship, Roosma was 86th over 10K in a time of 31:43.
Nicole DeHerrera, who was 50th in the 2021 Big Sky Championship with a time of 18:16 in the 5K race, is Eastern's top returning runner.
EWU's cross country team returns with 23 returning runners, 12 on the women's side and 11 for the men, as well as six new student-athletes ready to race.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga, which swept both team titles the last two years at the Clash of the Inland Northwest, looks to make it three in a row.
The Zags return five runners who hold one of the 10 fastest times in program history at both 8 & 10K distances and six of their top seven from nationals, including 2021 All-West Region finishers Wil Smith and Cullen McEachern.
Eastern Washington's release is available here, while Gonzaga's release is available here.
The link to live results is available here.
A few hours later, Washington State opens up their season by hosting the WSU Invitational at the Colfax Golf Club in Colfax.
The format has changed slightly from past editions of this meet. It is essentially a dual meet, as Idaho is entered.
Washington State's meet preview is available here.
The link to live results is available here.
COMPOSITE WASHINGTON D1/D2 CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE AVAILABLE...
Below is the composite cross country schedules for all nine Washington Division I and II schools.
There are four notable cross country meets contested this fall in the state of Washington, with the Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place, south of Tacoma hosting three of them.
On October 22nd, Seattle Pacific plays host to the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet at Chambers Creek, as a precursor to the NCAA Division II championships on the same course on December 2nd.
Eastern Washington will host the Big Sky cross country championships at a venue in the greater Spokane area to be determined on October 28th. The Eagles were originally planning to stage the meet at the Plantes Ferry facility which has hosted the USA cross country championships and the NCAA Division II championships, but the operators of the facility had second thoughts.
On November 11th, the University of Washington will host the NCAA West Regionals at Chambers Creek
As always, please check with each school's website for updated information.
2022 Washington D1/D2 XC Sc... by Paul Merca
NOTE: The sports information offices of Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, and Washington State University, along with the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.
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