USU Men Picked WAC Cross Country Pre-Championship Favorites; Women Third

Utah State [University's] men's cross country team was picked to win its sixth-straight Western Athletic Conference championship, while the Aggie women were tabbed third as the WAC announced its men's and women's cross country pre-championship coaches' polls Tuesday [Oct. 26, 2010], as voted on by the league's nine head coaches. The poll is released in advance of the 2010 WAC Cross Country Championships Saturday, Oct. 30, at Moscow, Idaho, hosted by the University of Idaho.

 

Utah State, the winner of the past five men's WAC championships, received six first-place votes and 36 points. Boise State captured second-place with 31 points with one first-place vote. Fresno State claimed the third spot with 23 points, one point ahead of Idaho in fourth. New Mexico State (20) and San Jose State (10) followed closely behind in fifth and sixth-place, respectively. Louisiana Tech received seven points to finish seventh.

 

On the women's side, Utah State was picked to finish third with 52 points. Idaho was selected first with six first-place votes and 62 overall points. 2009 champion New Mexico State followed closely in second with two first-place votes for 57 points. Fresno State received 40 points to capture the fourth spot, while Boise State was ranked fifth with 37 points. Nevada was selected sixth with 33 points, followed by Hawai'i in seventh with 22 points. San Jose State (18) and Louisiana Tech (8) were picked to finish eighth and ninth, respectively.

 

The Aggie women won the 2006 and 2008 WAC titles, while finishing second last season.

 

In its last action, the USU men were 22nd while the Aggie women were 28th at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational Oct. 16 at Terre Haute, Ind. Sophomore Brian McKenna led the Aggie men finishing in 34th place in the 8,000m race in 24:21.3 leading USU to a 22nd-place overall finish. McKenna's time was just over a minute behind first-place finisher Samuel Chelanga (Liberty) at 23:19.9. McKenna's 34th place finish is USU's best finish since 2005 when Trevor Bell crossed the line in 10th place in 23:57. McKenna has led the Aggies in every race thus far this season.

 

The USU women were led by sophomore Ruth Hilton, clocking in at 21:38.8 in 77th place. Following Hilton was senior Kim Quinn's finish at 22:12.9 in 141st place.

 

Following the WAC Championships, the USU men and women's cross country teams will be in action at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships Saturday, Nov. 13, at Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

 

 

 

 

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