Colorado Continues To Move Up In Both USTFCCCA Polls

NEW ORLEANS — After a successful showing at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational on Friday, October 15, the University of Colorado cross country teams each moved up in the USTFCCCA Division I Coaches Polls.
 
The men's team jumped up from seventh to fourth, while the women's team moved up one spot from fifth to fourth.
 
Northern Arizona has been the top team in the men's poll all season and that did not change in the latest edition of the poll since the Lumberjacks picked up all 11 first-place votes for 330 points; but there were a lot of changes in the top-30. Iowa State and Colorado moved up four spots in the poll to put the Cyclones (303) at second and the Buffaloes (296) third. Stanford (294) dropped one spot from third to fourth and Oklahoma State (290) also fell from fourth to fifth.
 
New Mexico moved up two spots to overtake NC State as the new No. 1 team in the women's poll. The Lobos picked up six of the 11 first-place votes and recorded 324 points. The Wolfpack is just one point behind UNM (323) and recorded the other five first-place votes for second place. BYU (301) slid one spot from second to third, while CU (297) moved up one position from fifth to fourth. Alabama, last week's No. 4, moved to fifth this week with 283 points.
 
In the men's and women's mountain region rankings, Colorado is ranked second in both polls. NAU is ahead of CU in the men's poll, while UNM is in front of CU in the women's rankings.
 
Colorado's women won the garnet race at pre-nationals, defeating then-No. 10 Utah, 54-149. Third-place went to Florida State, which recorded 163 points. Abby Nichols recorded the individual win, crossing the finish in 19 minutes, 46.4 seconds. The Buffs placed two other runners in the top-10 as Emily Covert was fifth and India Johnson placed ninth. Rachel McArthur was CU's fourth scorer at 16th and Hannah Miniutti was fifth for the Buffs, crossing 23rd.  
 
The CU men recorded a second-place finish at pre-nationals with 128 points. The Buffs and then-ninth-ranked Arkansas both recorded 128 points but CU won the tiebreaker, 3-2. NAU won the garnet race with 64 points. Eduardo Herrera was the top finisher for the Buffs at seventh and was followed by Brendan Fraser (23rd), Austin Vancil (24th), Andrew Kent (36th) and Charlie Sweeney (38th).
 
The postseason begins for the Buffaloes on October 29, at the Pac-12 Championships in Salt Lake City. The men's 8-kilometer race is set for a 10 a.m. start, while the women's 6k race will begin at 11 a.m. MT. Both races will be televised live on Pac-12 Network.
 

USTFCCCA Women's Poll – Week #5 – Oct. 19
 

 
 
USTFCCCA Men's Poll – Week #5 – Oct. 19