Air Force Academy

Aug. 12, 2009

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Air Force men's and women's cross country teams were picked to finish third and fourth, respectively, in the Mountain West Conference, the league office announced this morning (August 12) with the release of the annual preseason coaches' poll. The women's fourth-place preseason ranking is their highest since the 2005 season.

The women tallied 38 points to tie with Utah for fourth in the annual preseason poll. BYU, claiming six of the nine first-place votes, was picked to win the conference with 62 points. New Mexico, earning the other three first-place votes, was second with 59 points, while Colorado State rounded out the top three with 48 points. Wyoming (sixth, 31 points), UNLV (seventh, 20), TCU (eighth, 17) and San Diego State (ninth, 11) rounded out the nine-team women's poll.

On the men's side, Air Force collected 17 points to place third, matching its preseason spot one year ago. Overall, BYU took five of the six first-place votes to capture first with 25 points. New Mexico earned the final first-place vote and a second-place designation with 21 points. Following Air Force's third-place selection, Colorado State finished fourth with 13 points, while Wyoming (nine) and TCU (five) ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in the six-team men's league.

The preseason poll was determined by the league's head coaches (six men's coaches, nine women's coaches), with the coaches not being allowed to vote for their own teams.

The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Juli Henner, begin the 2009 season on Friday, Sept. 4, at the UCCS Rust Buster Invitational in Colorado Springs.