Utah State’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams were picked to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Mountain West this season in a preseason poll of the conference’s head coaches.
The polls were released Wednesday by the conference office.
The Aggie men garnered 19 points, six behind fifth-place Wyoming. On the women’s side, Utah State earned 49 points, just three behind sixth-place Nevada.
“I know we’re better than that because we haven’t proven ourselves yet in this conference and once we do, I think things might change a little bit with where we’re ranked preseason,” veteran head coach Gregg Gensel said, referring to where the Aggie women were tabbed to finish. “To me, it’s what you do on the field of competition that will make the difference.”
Gensel wasn’t surprised that the Aggie men were picked to finish close to the bottom of the conference.
“It’s probably what we deserve because we’re a young team; we’re rebuilding and we lost a few veterans,” Gensel said. “As long as we work hard, being ranked sixth on the men’s side is going to be good motivation for them to improve. I know that recruiting-wise, we’re doing a pretty good job, so I don’t expect we’ll stay there for very long.”
The New Mexico men’s and women’s cross-country teams were selected to win the 2015 league titles. The Lobo women have captured seven-consecutive MW championships, while the men have garnered six-straight titles.
“They’re great teams and they’ve proven themselves over the years and I think they’ll continue to improve unless somebody does something about that,” Gensel said. “We’re all great on paper, but when it comes to actually running, that’s when we really see and we’ve always excelled in that situation.”
New Mexico collected five first-place votes and 46 total points to capture the top spot in the men’s poll, while Boise State was tabbed second with one first-place vote and 42 points. Colorado State was picked third with two first-place votes and 41 points, followed by Air Force (31 points), Wyoming (25), Utah State (19), Fresno State (12) and San José State (eight).
On the women’s side, New Mexico received 10 first-place votes for a total of 100 points, followed by Boise State, which received one first-place vote and 88 points. Colorado State and Wyoming each received 79 points to rank tied for third. Air Force was selected fifth with 58 points, followed by Nevada (52 points), Utah State (49), Fresno State (36), UNLV (25), SJSU (21) and San Diego State (18).
The Mountain West Championships will be hosted by Nevada on Friday, Oct. 30, at Montrêux Golf Course in Reno, Nevada.
Utah State’s men finished fifth with 152 points at last year’s Mountain West Championships, while the women captured seventh with 180 points.
The Aggies open the 2015 campaign by hosting the USU Invitational on the Steve and Dona Reeder Cross Country Course on Saturday, Sept. 5. This will mark the 11th-consecutive year Utah State has opened at home.
The NCAA Mountain Region Championships will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Nov. 13 – eight days before the NCAA Championship in Louisville on Nov. 21.
Fans can follow Utah State's cross-country and track and field programs on Facebook at USUTrack.