POCATELLO, Idaho – The men's and women's cross country teams were picked to finish sixth and fifth respectively in the 2015 cross country coaches' preseason poll that was released by the Big Sky Conference Tuesday afternoon. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.
"I thought the rankings were respectable and it wasn't anything unexpected," said Head Coach
Nate Houle. "I like the whole idea of being and underdog, and I think both of those rankings place us a little lower than I had us. It's a good place to start, and we look to improve on that by Halloween."
The ISU men's cross country squad returns 10 runners from last year's squad that finished ninth at the Big Sky Championships and 17th at the NCAA Mountain Regional. Junior
Ty James led the Bengals at both meets, finishing 19th with an 8k time of 25:11.1 at the Big Sky Championships and finishing in 65th with a 10k time of 31:55.70 at the NCAA Mountain Regional.
Northern Arizona was picked to finish first with 138 points and six first-place votes, narrowly edging out Southern Utah who received 137 points and six first-place votes. Weber state was picked third with 112 points, followed by Montana State (104) in fourth, Eastern Washington (91) in fifth and Montana (74) in seventh.
Idaho, North Dakota, Portland State, Sacramento State and Northern Colorado rounded out the poll on the men's side.
The women's team returns nine runners from the 2014 squad that finished fifth at the Big Sky Championships and eighth at the NCAA Mountain Regional. Senior
Kylie Hutchison is the top performer returning for the Bengals; she received all-conference honors following her eighth-place finish at the Big Sky Championships and finished 17th at the Mountain West Regional.
Katie Nichols also returns for the Bengals after placing 19th at the Big Sky Championships and 44th at the NCAA Mountain Regional.
The Big Sky defending champs, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, earned eight first-place votes and 139 total points. Weber State and Montana State received 119 points apiece, but Weber edged out Montana State for the second spot with two first-place votes. Eastern finished in fourth with 117 points and two first-place votes. Montana finished in sixth with 72 points, Southern Utah in seventh with 67 points, and Idaho in eighth with 66 points.
Portland State, Sacramento State, Northern Colorado and North Dakota rounded out the women's poll.
Both the men's and women's teams open their season this Friday in a race against Souther Utah, and Houle is looking forward to the opportunity to really see what his teams can do.
"We're pretty happy with the way things are coming along," said Houle. "We've only had two weeks of real workouts in, and so the meet this Friday is very much a preseason rust-buster. It's more about lining up our roster. I'm a new coach, we've got a few new athletes joining some of the veterans. So for me it's a first chance to see everybody do their things and see how the order shakes out."
The Idaho State men's and women's cross country teams open the 2015 season this Friday, Sept. 4 at 9 a.m. at Centennial Course in Pocatello.
Men's Poll
1. Northern Arizona (6) 138
2. Southern Utah (6) 137
3. Weber State 112
4. Montana State 104
5. Eastern Washington 91
6. Idaho State 76
7. Montana 74
8. Idaho 64
9. North Dakota 46
10. Portland State 43
11. Sacramento State 37
12. Northern Colorado 14
Women's Poll
1. Northern Arizona (8) 139
2. Weber State (2) 119
3. Montana State 119
4. Eastern Washington (2) 117
5. Idaho State 91
6. Montana 72
7. Southern Utah 67
8. Idaho 66
9. Portland State 51
10. Sacramento State 49
11. Northern Colorado 30
12. North Dakota 16
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