Gonzaga women return to top 30 in USTFCCCA national coaches' poll...

NEW ORLEANS--After last week's meets, the Gonzaga women find themselves back in the national top 30, while the Washington women's cross country team dropped six places in the latest USTFCCCA Division I national coaches' poll released Tuesday.

The Huskies, who began the week ranked number 11 in the coaches' poll, dropped to number 17 in this week's poll.

Two of the biggest leaps upwards in the women's poll came from UW's Big Ten rival Northwestern, who finished second in the Loyola Lakefront Invitational last Friday, and from Gonzaga, which finished third at the same meet, just ahead of the Huskies.

Northwestern is now ranked number 18 just behind the Huskies, after starting the week at number 26, up eight spots.

Gonzaga, which was outside the top 30 last week after starting the season at number 22, moved all the way up to number 20 in the national poll, led by Jessica Frydenlund's (Gonzaga Athletics photo) sixth place finish.

Washington State, which was idle last week, stayed at number 27 in the poll.

The nation's top five teams this week remain, in order: BYU, NC State, Florida, Oregon and New Mexico.

Other teams from the Big Ten include number 14 Penn State, number 24 Michigan State, and number 29 Wisconsin.

The Zags and Cougs are the only teams from the West Coast Conference in the national top 30.

In the men's national poll, the voters dropped the Washington men's team out of the national top 30 after their eighth place finish at the Lakefront Invitational, despite missing several runners, most notably Evan Jenkins.

Washington began the week at number 24.

Washington State, despite being idle last week, moved two spots in the poll to number 21.

Like the women's poll, there were no changes in the national top five from last week's poll: Iowa State, Oklahoma State, New Mexico, Virginia and Colorado occupy the top five in order.

Teams from the Big Ten in this week's poll include number 7 Wisconsin, number 14 Oregon, and number 16 Michigan State.

The Cougs are the only team from the WCC in the national top 30.

The next USTFCCCA poll releases on October 21st, after the Wisconsin Nuttycombe and Missouri Pre-Nationals meet.

The USTFCCCA release is available here. 

NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below.