Wyoming Set for Friday's Mountain West Championships
Photo courtesy University of Wyoming Athletics
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (October 31, 2024) – The University of Wyoming cross country program travels south to the Air Force Academy for the 2024 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Cross Country Championships at the Eisenhower Golf Course, on Friday. The women’s 6k will begin at 10 a.m. MT with the men’s 8k following at 10:45 a.m. MT. Awards ceremonies will begin for the women at 11:45 a.m. and conclude with the men’s at noon.
The Mountain West Pre-Championship poll, released Wednesday and voted on by conference coaches, mirrored the preseason poll for Wyoming with the Cowboys being picked third with 53 points and one first-place vote, and the Cowgirls picked sixth with 63 points.
The men were only behind New Mexico with 64 points and the remaining eight first-place votes and Utah State with 54 points. The men’s poll looks as follows:
- New Mexico (8) 64
- Utah State 54
- Wyoming (1) 53
- Air Force 38
- Colorado State 36
- Boise State 31
- Nevada 20
- Fresno State 18
- San Jose State 10
The men’s side of the conference is well represented in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Coaches’ Poll. New Mexico was ranked sixth with 270 points, Utah State at 19th with 124 points and Wyoming at 20th with 109 points.
The women’s poll was also topped by New Mexico with nine first-place votes and Colorado State following them with the other two first-place votes. The women’s poll looks like this:
- New Mexico (9) 98
- Colorado State (2) 87
- Boise State 74
- Utah State 72
- Air Force 69
- Wyoming 63
- San Diego State 44
- Nevada 34
- Fresno State 31
- San Jose State 17
- UNLV 16
In the USTFCCCA women’s poll, New Mexico ranked eighth with 253 points, while Boise State and Colorado received votes with six and one point, respectively.
SEASON TO DATE
The 2024 cross country season opened with the Wyoming Invite at the Little America Golf Course in Cheyenne, Wyo. The Cowboys finished first in the 5k with junior Jacob White winning the invite and the Cowgirls came in second with senior Kylie Simshauser winning and setting the then 5k program record and a course record. The duo’s efforts earned them both the first Mountain West Athlete of the Week awards of the season.
The men followed up their victory in Cheyenne with their first-ever win at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. The Cowboys were led by senior Mason Norman to their first team victory outside of Wyoming since 2014. On the women’s side, Simshauser finished third to lead the Cowgirls to a third-place finish for their best finish at the meet. The Cowgirls also beat Colorado State who received national poll votes. The women finished so well that they were ranked sixth in the USTFCCCA Mountain Poll, their highest ranking since 2016 and Simshauser earned her second Mountain West Athlete of the Week award, the first Cowgirl to win the award twice in a season.
At the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Ind., the Cowboys finished fourth and the Cowgirls eighth, both finishing ahead of nationally ranked teams. White led the men with a program record time in the 8k while Simshauser led the Cowgirls once again with a program-best time in the 5k. The meet led to 11 runners making the program's top times list. Following the meet, the Cowboys received their first National Coaches’ Poll votes since 2020 after beating then No. 30 Michigan State and White won his second Mountain West Athlete of the Week award, the first Cowboy to do so since 2018.
Wyoming took on a stacked Pre Nationals in Madison, Wis., and finished ahead of nationally ranked teams. The Cowboys, led once again by White, finished 12th ahead of eight ranked teams ranging from No. 13 to No. 30. The Cowgirls, led by Simshauser, finished 32nd, beating out No. 22 Ole Miss. With the success over ranked opponents on the men's side, the Cowboys found themselves ranked No. 20 in the National Coaches’ Poll. This is Wyoming’s first time being ranked since the 2019 season.
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