Lobos Top MW Cross Country Pre-Championship Polls
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the 2024 Mountain West Cross Country Championships set for later this week, the New Mexico men’s and women’s teams were selected as the Conference favorites heading into the postseason, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
| MEN’S PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP COACHES’ POLL | WOMEN’S PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP COACHES’ POLL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team (First-Place Votes) | Points | Team (First-Place Votes) | Points | |
| 1. New Mexico (8) | 64 | 1. New Mexico (9) | 98 | |
| 2. Utah State | 54 | 2. Colorado State (2) | 87 | |
| 3. Wyoming (1) | 53 | 3. Boise State | 74 | |
| 4. Air Force | 38 | 4. Utah State | 72 | |
| 5. Colorado State | 36 | 5. Air Force | 69 | |
| 6. Boise State | 31 | 6. Wyoming | 63 | |
| 7. Nevada | 20 | 7. San Diego State | 44 | |
| 8. Fresno State | 18 | 8. Nevada | 34 | |
| 9. San Jose State | 10 | 9. Fresno State | 31 | |
| 10. San Jose State | 17 | |||
| 11. UNLV | 16 | |||
Heading into this weekend, both Lobos squads are ranked in the Top 10 nationally at the same time for the first time in over a decade and gunning for their first sweep of the men’s and women’s team titles since 2014.
The UNM men — currently ranked No. 6 in the nation — are vying for a repeat after winning their first MW team title since 2014 last season. Meanwhile, the Lobo women — who moved up from No. 17 to No. 8 in the nation after their last showing — seek to avenge a fourth-place finish in 2023 that snapped an unprecedented 15-year streak of consecutive conference titles.
In total, New Mexico has won 22 Mountain West titles combined between men and women — more than any other conference school, past or present. The school with the next-most is BYU (17). But even then, UNM has only swept both the men’s and women’s team and individual titles twice, doing so in 2011 and 2012 — they’ve won both the men’s and women’s team titles in the same year six times, most recently in 2014.
POLL RESULTS
After collecting eight of nine first-place votes and 64 points, the Lobos enter Friday’s MW Men’s Cross Country Championship as the favorite to win the title and are currently ranked No. 6 in the nation. Utah State collected 54 points to place second in the pre-championship poll, edging out third-place Wyoming, who received 53 points and the other first-place vote.
Following the Cowboys in the men’s poll are Air Force in fourth (38 points), Colorado State in fifth (36 points), Boise State in sixth (31 points), Nevada in seventh (20 points), Fresno State in eighth (18 points) and San José State in ninth (10 points).
Leading up to the MW women’s championship, the Lobos earned 9 of 11 first-place votes and tallied 98 points. New Mexico jumped into the top 10 in the latest national poll, ranking No. 8 heading into the postseason.
Colorado State received the other two first-place votes and took second with 87 points, followed by Boise State in third with 74 points, Utah State in fourth with 72 points and Air Force in fifth with 69 points.
Rounding out the MW women’s pre-championship poll is Wyoming in sixth (63 points), San Diego State in seventh (44) points), Nevada in eighth (34 points), Fresno State in ninth (31 points), San José State in 10th (17 points), and UNLV in 11th (16 points).
FOLLOW THE RACES
The 2024 Mountain West Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Air Force at Eisenhower Golf Course in Colorado Springs on Friday, Nov. 1. The women’s 6k race will start at 10 a.m. MT, while the men’s 8k race begins at 10:45 a.m. MT.
Both championship races will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network, with live results available via GoLobos.com/XCResults.