Zags return to number 20 in USTFCCCA D1 coaches' poll after taking second at West Regionals...
NEW ORLEANS--In the final regular season NCAA Division I men's cross country coaches poll conducted by the USTFCCCA, Pat Tyson's (second from left) Gonzaga Bulldogs (Paul Merca photo) moved all the way up to number 20 after not making the top 30 in the poll conducted after the conference championships two weeks ago.
The previously unranked Zags, along with the University of Portland, which finished third at the NCAA West Regional championship meet on Friday in Sacramento, created a bit of chaos, as both teams upended previously number 5 ranked Cal Baptist when it came time to select the at-large teams going to Virginia for Saturday's NCAA championship meet.
The Washington Huskies, who finished fifth at the West Regionals after finishing second to Stanford at the Pac-12s, found themselves not receiving an at-large bid to the nationals.
Going into the national championships, the top five teams are, in order: defending champion Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, BYU, North Carolina, and a tie between Texas and Wisconsin.
Oklahoma State is coached by former Olympia native Dave Smith, while Texas is coached by former UW head coach Greg Metcalf.
Besides the Zags at 20, Portland at number 24 is the only other West Coast Conference team ranked in the national top 30. From the Pac-12, Stanford comes in at number 9, while Colorado is at 27.
On the women's side, while the Washington women's squad finished third in the West regional meet Friday, the voters kept the Huskies in the top ten entering the national championships, ranking the Dawgs tenth, down two spots from eighth.
The nation's top five teams heading into Saturday's championships are in order: Northern Arizona, defending champion NC State, BYU, Oklahoma State, and Stanford.
Other Pac-12 teams in the national top 30 include number 9 Oregon, number 14 Utah, and number 17 Colorado.
While the Gonzaga women, who finished fifth at regionals did not qualify for nationals, they did receive votes from the coaches.
STUFF WE MISSED...
In our last post, we forgot to mention that BYU's Kenneth Rooks from Walla Walla finished 16th in the NCAA Mountain region meet in Lubbock, running 29:26 for 10k.
The Cougars finished second behind Northern Arizona, and got one of the two team auto qualifiers into the national championships.
If there's anyone else we missed, please don't hesitate to contact us!
NOTE: The NCAA, the USTFCCCA, and the sports information offices of Gonzaga and Washington contributed to this report.
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