VIA: USTFCCCA.org

*Poll at bottom of page:
Women's Poll HERE
NEW ORLEANS – Oklahoma State’s defending NCAA champion men and the Providence women have been voted by the coaches as the Division I preseason No. 1 teams in the National Coaches Poll, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Tuesday.

A position atop the men’s cross country world is nothing new for Oklahoma State, as the men’s team is the defending champion and has won three of the past four titles. But the Providence women — who came close to the NCAA team title a year ago with a runner-up finish — have not been ranked No. 1 since late in the 1996 season: the season following their 1995 title.

National PDFs: Preseason Top 30 Summary | Week-by-Week 2013 | Week-by-Week All Time

Regional Rankings: Preseason Summary (PDF)

Close behind OK State in the men’s polls are No. 2 Northern Arizona, No. 3 Colorado, No. 4 BYU and tied for No. 5 Arkansas and Tulsa
MEN

The Midwest and Mountain regions are shaping up to be particularly strong for the men, as five of the nation’s top six squads reside between them: No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Tulsa from the Midwest and No. 2 Northern Arizona, No. 3 Colorado and No. 4 BYU from the Mountain.

As the defending men’s team champion and the winner of three of the past four team titles, Oklahoma State was selected as the preseason favorite to reclaim its title by virtue of 10 of 12 first-place votes and a total 358 points.  The Cowboys return four scorers from their title-winning squad a year ago, three of whom are now seniors who finished in the top 25 as individuals. Tom Farrell finished ninth overall in 2012, while teammates Shadrack Kipchirchir and Joseph Manilafasha finished 18th and 24th, respectively. Junior Shane Moskowitz (53rd) also returns.

The other two first-place nods went to No. 2 Northern Arizona (349 points), which returns all five scorers from its fourth-place national finish a year ago. Senior Brian Shrader is the elder statesman of the Lumberjacks, having finished a team-best 15th overall at NCAAs in 2012, and will lead the way for a group of young returning scorers that features juniors Matt McElroy (66th) and Caleb Hoover (75th) and two sophomores in Futsum Zienasellassie (31st) and Nathan Weitz (80th).

Northern Arizona was last ranked No. 2 in October of 2009.

Colorado (337 points) starts the 2013 campaign in exactly the same spot it finished 2012 — No. 3 — behind the strength of four returning scorers from a year ago. Like Shrader at NAU, the Buffaloes’ top returning finisher Jake Hurysz (32nd) is also the lone returning senior scorer. He is joined by junior Blake Theroux (39th) and sophomores Pierce Murphy (45th) and Connor Winter (65th).

No. 4 BYU (307 points) enters the 2013 season with four of five scorers returning from its 2012 sixth-place showing — three of whom are seniors. Seniors Tylor Tatcher (34th), Conner Peloquin (84th) and Thomas Gruenwald (91st) all return, as does junior Steve Flint (106th).

Arkansas and Tulsa each garnered 284 points to tie for the No. 5 spot in the preseason poll. Both squads return three scorers from a year ago: Arkansas led by 17th-place finisher senior Kemoy Campbell and Tulsa by 20th-place runner senior Chris O’Hare, the indoor mile collegiate record holder. For Tulsa it is the highest-ever ranking in the National Coaches Poll, beating out their ninth-place high-point from last October.

The 2012 national runner-up Wisconsin Badgers enter 2013 at No. 7 after losing four of five scorers.

Portland is No. 8, followed by Syracuse at an all-time program-best No. 9 and Princeton at No. 10 to complete the top 10.

The ACC tops the list of conferences with six teams represented in the top 30, followed by the Pac-12 and the Big Ten with four apiece.

2013 Preseason — August 27