Men's Cross Country Ranked 11th in Nation in Preseason Poll
PROVO -- BYU men's cross country is ranked 11th in the nation in a preseason poll conducted by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association. The 11th place ranking puts them one spot higher than their 12th place finish in 2001.
"People now recognize that we'll get there every year," said Eyestone. "In the past only every couple of years we would go to nationals; now the guys expect it." He said their goal is not just to go to nationals and enjoy being there, but now they expect to do well.
BYU's team has a long list of talent this year and will look to Lewis Jones, Andy Carman and Steve Barrus for leadership. Transfers David Woodbury and Kip Kangogo will also bring more depth to the men's team.
Woodbury is a transfer from Rick's College and was the junior college 10,000 champion last year. Kangogo, a transfer from Lethbridge Community College in Canada, placed 12th at the Canadian Nationals in cross country last year and finished second in the 1,500 at the Canadian National Track Meet. Also, coming off a redshirt year will be Matt Adams, Chad Durham and Nate Robison.
The team's first big meet will be September 28 at the Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. They look to improve on last year's 10th place finish as they face off with several teams from outside their region.
The NCAA National Championship Meet will be November 25 at Terra Haute, Ind.
MONDO MEN'S NCAA-I CROSS COUNTRY POLLPre-season poll: Aug. 27, 2002
Conducted by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association
Rank Team (first place votes) Points
1 Colorado (14) 449
2 Stanford (1) 429
3 Arkansas 420
4 Wisconsin 400
5 Northern Arizona 392
6 Villanova 354
7 North Carolina State 342
8 Providence 337
9-tie Georgetown 300
9-tie Oregon 300
11 BYU 291
12 Eastern Michigan 273
13 Arizona State 270
14 Michigan State 265
15 Portland 163
16-tie Colorado State 161
16-tie William & Mary 161
18 Weber State 159
19 Dartmouth 156
20 Duke 146
21 Iona 136
22 Alabama 132
23 Indiana 123
24 Butler 120
25 Notre Dame 100
26 Minnesota 93
27 Washington 90
28 Michigan 50
29-tie Oklahoma State 40
29-tie Texas 40
Also receiving votes: SMU 35, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 31, Arizona 28, Air
Force 27, Tennessee 22, UC-Santa Barbara 21, Nebraska 17, Penn State 12, New
Mexico 11, Ohio State 4, Florida State 1.
Sponsored by MONDO. Voters are active members of the executive committee of
the U.S. Cross Country Coaches Assn. Compiled by Don Kopriva, USCCCA Public
Relations Director, P.O. Box 3040, Lisle, Ill. 60532. For more information,
e-mail XCPoll@aol.com
Poll available on the Web at www.usccca.org
