Both Viking cross country squads ranked number 10 in first regular season USTFCCCA D2 poll...
NEW ORLEANS--With the first meet of the season for the Western Washington cross country squads under their belts, the Vikings are ranked number ten in both of the first regular season USTFCCCA Division II national coaches' poll released on Wednesday.
In their first meet of the season, both teams finished second at the Green River Invitational in Steilacoom behind Division I University of Portland, but were easily the top Division II teams in the field.
The men's squad (Paul Merca photo) moved up two spots from the number 12 position in the coaches' pre-season poll to number 10, despite holding out defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Kevin McDermott out of the meet.
The nation's top five teams are in order: Wingate, then a tie for number 2 between Colorado School of Mines and East Central (Oklahoma), followed by West Texas A&M in 4, and Grand Valley State at 5.
Western Washington is the only school from the GNAC represented in the men's national top 30.
The women's squad dropped one spot from the pre-season poll to number 10 in the first regular season coaches' poll, but only by a two-point margin.
There were no changes in the national top five from the pre-season poll. Adams State, Grand Valley State, Western Colorado, Augustana (S. Dakota), and CSU-Pueblo are the nation's top five women's teams in Division II.
Unlike the men's poll, Alaska/Fairbanks is the only other GNAC team in the national top 30, coming in at number 20.
Western Washington next hosts the Bill Roe Invitational on September 28th in Ferndale.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA and the sports information office of Western Washington University contributed to this report.
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