Colorado XC Starts Season Ranked In USTFCCCA Polls
NEW ORLEANS — The University of Colorado cross country men's and women's teams will start the 2020 campaign ranked in the top-15 of the USTFCCCA Polls, as announced Wednesday.
The CU women are ranked eighth, while the men are 13th, heading into the Florida State Winter Cross Country Classic, this Friday, February 5.
In a unique situation that saw a cross country season split into a fall and winter schedule, with half of the nation competing in September and October and the rest of the country beginning action in January and February, it will be interesting to see how everything shakes out.
Arkansas, the top-ranked team in the women's poll, won the SEC Championship this past fall and recorded nine first-place votes for 324 points. BYU came in second this week (308), while NC State, the ACC Champions, was third (307). Stanford, like the Buffs, did not compete in the fall and is currently ranked fourth with 302 points. Rounding out the top five is New Mexico (292), another team that has not competed yet this campaign.
Colorado recorded 248 points in the voting for its eighth-place position and is the second-highest Pac-12 team behind Stanford.
On the men's side, the top three teams all competed during the fall segment. BYU is the current No. 1 ranked team with 326 points and seven first-place votes, while Northern Arizona is second with 321 points and three first-place votes. SEC Champion Arkansas is third with 304 points and the final first-place vote. Tulsa recorded 280 points to come in fourth in this week's poll, while Oklahoma State, the host of the 2020 NCAA Championship on March 21, 2021, is fifth with 274 points.
CU picked up 210 points for 13th and ranks fourth among Pac-12 teams. Washington leads the league at ninth (228) and is followed by Oregon (222) in 10th, Stanford (211) in 12th and Colorado.