Washington women remain at number 5 in latest USTFCCCA national coaches' cross country poll...
NEW ORLEANS--Three weekends of the 2024 cross country season are now in the books, and there was very little changes in the USTFCCCA Division I national coaches' poll released on Tuesday.
The Washington women, who won their dual meet against Seattle University on September 3rd with a perfect 15-50 team score, remained at number 5 in the latest coaches poll, with a very minor change at the top.
By only two points (323 to 321), defending national champion North Carolina State took over sole possession of the number one position from Northern Arizona. The two schools were tied in the coaches' pre-season poll that released on August 27th.
Notre Dame and Oregon remained in positions 3 and 4.
Meanwhile, defending West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga, despite sitting out All-American Rosina Machu, moved up two spots in the women's national poll from 25 to 23.
The Zags won the season opening Clash of the Inland Northwest on August 30th and the Cougar Classic last Friday.
Other Big Ten schools in the national top 30 include number 19 Wisconsin, number 20 Michigan State, number 24 Northwestern, and number 29 Penn State.
Gonzaga is the only school from the West Coast Conference represented in the national top 30.
MEN...
The Huskies, who also won their season opener by a perfect 15-50 count over SeattleU, dropped two spots in the men's national poll to number 27.
Gonzaga, who was ranked number 30 in the pre-season poll, dropped out of the top 30 after two meets, despite holding out top runner Wil Smith and finishing a close third with 64 points at last Friday's Cougar Classic behind Boise State (60) and Washington State (62) .
There were no changes in the national men's top five, led in order by Oklahoma State, BYU, Arkansas, defending national champion Northern Arizona, and Iowa State.
Ranked teams in the Big Ten include number 13 Wisconsin, number 22 Oregon, and number 26 Michigan.
Portland is the only West Coast Conference team in the national top 30 at number 16.
NEWS AND NOTES...
Washington State freshman Evans Kurui was named the USTFCCCA's Division I national men's athlete of the week for his performance at last Friday's Cougar Classic in Colfax.
Kurui broke the old Colfax Golf Club course record over the 8k distance set by Oregon's Edward Cheserek at the 2015 Pac-12 cross country championships, when he ran 22:47, a time 20 seconds faster than Cheserek's.
Cheserek went on to win the 2015 NCAA cross country championship.
It's the first time in school history that a runner from Washington State's been named athlete of the week during the cross country season.
Over at Eastern Washington, Erin Clark was named as an assistant coach in charge of the pole vault, replacing long time assistant Eric Allison, who retired after the 2024 season.
Clark, who won the Big Sky pole vault title in 2017 under Allison's tutelage, earned her undergraduate degree in Exercise Physiology with a minor in Business Administration.
Since graduating from Eastern, she was an assistant coach at nearby Cheney HS, and worked with the Spokane Speed Academy club team. She also previously coached at Joel Ferris HS.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA and the sports information offices of the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, Washington State University, and Eastern Washington University contributed to this report.
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