Washington men maintain number 13 ranking in latest USTFCCCA D1 coaches' poll...

NEW ORLEANS--The Washington Husky men's cross country team (photo courtesy UW Athletics) was not penalized by the national voters for running a completely different team at last week's Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago than the squad that lined up in Terre Haute at the McNichols Invitational, where the team placed third.

As a result, the Huskies maintained their position as the number 13 team in the nation in the latest USTFCCCA NCAA Division I men's cross country poll released Tuesday morning.

Washington State, which was idle last week, dropped one spot in the national poll to number 17.

There was a slight change in the national top five, as New Mexico took over the number one spot, ahead of Iowa State, and defending champion Oklahoma State, which dropped from number one to number three.  Alabama and Oregon round out the top five in the poll.

Big Ten men's teams in the national top 30 include number 12 Wisconsin, number 18 Michigan State, and number 26 Michigan.

Besides the Cougars, Utah State is the only other Pac-12 team in the national top 30 at number 28.

The women's national poll saw idle Washington State move up to number 17 from number 16, thanks to some movement after last weekend's meets.

The Washington Huskies, who were idle last week, stayed at number 23.

The nation's top five women's teams are in order: NC State, BYU, New Mexico, Northern Arizona and Iowa State.

Oregon dropped out of the top five to number six. Other Big Ten teams in the national top 30 include number 18 Minnesota, number 21 Northwestern, and number 28 Penn State.

Boise State joins the Cougars as the other team from the Pac-12 at number 30.

The USTFCCCA release is available here.

GUERMALI FINISHES FIFTH AT ASIAN GAMES 5000M TUESDAY NIGHT...

On a rainy night at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, Gonzaga alum Yacine Guermali (screen shot courtesy Asian Games TV) finished fifth in the men's 5000 on the final night of track and field competition at the Asian Games.

Guermali, who attended Camas HS before going to Gonzaga, was in a group of five, as Nursuitan Keneshbekov of Kyrgyzstan tried to run away from the field early, before being reeled in with over 4 laps to go.

Birhanu Balew of Burundi and Tomanori Yamaguchi of Japan broke the race open with about two laps to go, with Balew winning in 13:30.79, and Yamaguchi second in 13:31.43.

Guermali, the Philippine national record holder in the event, finished in a time of 13:44.61.

Complete results of the track and field competition at the Asian Games are available here.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA, Asian Games, and the sports information office of the University of Washington contributed to this report.

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