DENVER – The Western Athletic Conference announced its men's and women's cross country pre-championship coaches polls on Tuesday and the Utah Valley University men have been picked to win this weekend's WAC Championship while the UVU women have been projected to finish second.
The Wolverine men will look to defend their WAC title on Saturday after receiving a total of 47 points and five first-place votes to finish just ahead of California Baptist. CBU was picked to finish second with 45 points and the other three first-place votes. UT Rio Grande Valley was tabbed third with 30 points, while Grand Canyon and NM state tied for fourth with 27 points, Seattle U was selected sixth (21), Kansas City seventh (20) and Chicago State eighth (7).
On the women's side, California Baptist is the favorite to repeat as conference champs with the Lancers earning six first-place votes and 61 points overall. UVU was picked second with 59 points and the remaining three first-place votes. GCU is third with 46 points, followed by NM State in fourth at 40 points. Host Kansas City is picked fifth with 32 points, followed by UTRGV (30), SU (27), CSUB (21) and CSU (8).
The UVU men won their fourth WAC title in the past six seasons in 2018, while current senior
Kevin Lynch claimed WAC Men's Athlete of the Year honors last year after winning the WAC Men's Championship. The Wolverine women finished second a season ago behind top-10 finishes from
Hannah Branch,
Savannah Neuberger and
Aisha Graham-Perez.
The 2019 WAC Cross Country Championships are this Saturday, Nov. 2 at Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The men's 8k race begins at 9 a.m. (MT)/10 a.m. (CT), followed by the women's 6k at 10 a.m. (MT)/11 a.m. (CT).
The UVU men will enter this Saturday's WAC Championship ranked 11th in the latest NCAA Mountain Region poll, while the women's squad is currently ranked 12th.
2019 Pre-Championship Men's Cross Country Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Utah Valley (5) |
47 |
| 2. |
California Baptist (3) |
45 |
| 3. |
UT Rio Grande Valley |
30 |
| T4. |
NM State |
27 |
| T4. |
Grand Canyon |
27 |
| 6. |
Seattle U |
21 |
| 7. |
Kansas City |
20 |
| 8. |
Chicago State |
7 |
2019 Pre-Championship Women's Cross Country Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
California Baptist (6) |
61 |
| 2. |
Utah Valley (3) |
59 |
| 3. |
Grand Canyon |
46 |
| 4. |
NM State |
40 |
| 5. |
Kansas City |
32 |
| 6. |
UT Rio Grande Valley |
30 |
| 7. |
Seattle U |
27 |
| 8. |
CSU Bakersfield |
21 |
| 9. |
Chicago State |
8 |
