Seven top-10 teams to highlight 2019 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships
SAN FRANCISCO – A combined 10 nationally ranked programs, including a national-best seven inside the top 10, will headline next week’s 2019 Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships as the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Week 5 national rankings were released on Tuesday.
USTFCCCA WOMEN’S POLL (Week 5)
2. Stanford (+2)
3. Washington (+5)
5. Colorado (-2)
16. Utah (-10)
20. Oregon (-6)
RV: Oregon State
USTFCCCA MEN’S POLL (Week 5)
T3. Colorado (-)
T3. Stanford (1 first-place vote) (+2)
7. Washington (-3)
10. UCLA (+10)
16. Oregon (-9)
The Pac-12’s combined seven top-10 ranked teams are the most of any conference, nearly double the next closest league (Big Ten – 4).
The league’s 12 women’s and nine men’s teams will converge on Monmouth, Ore., next Friday, Nov. 1 for the Pac-12 Championships. This year’s title races will be contested at Ash Creek Preserve, the first dedicated cross country course to host the Conference’s championship meet. The Championships will be televised live on Pac-12 Network for the third consecutive year with racing starting at 11 a.m. PT.
The WASHINGTON women picked up a significant victory at the loaded Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., to improve five spots to No. 3 and leapfrog league rival No. 5 COLORADO, which placed third at the event. However, the STANFORD women will enter the Pac-12 Championships as favorites after the Cardinal finished runner-up to top-ranked Arkansas at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
The Pac-12 men’s race will feature a quartet of top-10 teams - the only league in the country with more than one top-10 men's program - as UCLA, which finished fifth at the Nuttycombe, climbed 10 spots to No. 10 for its best ranking since late in the 2017 season. Colorado and Stanford will enter the title meet as co-favorites as both the Buffaloes and Cardinal tied for third in the latest national poll, followed by No. 7 Washington.
The NCAA Mountain and West Regionals will be held Friday, Nov. 15 and hosted by Pac-12 programs Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah and Washington State in Colfax, Wash., with teams advancing to the 2019 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Nov. 23.
The Pac-12 will be looking to add to its distinction as the winningest conference in NCAA Cross Country history this fall as current league members boast the most combined team national championships (29 – 16 men/13 women) and individual titles (29 – 25 men/4 women) of any league in the country.