Aug. 31, 2011
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The San Diego State cross country team has been picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West during the 2011 season, the conference announced today. The preseason poll was voted on by the league's eight coaches.
The Aztecs were picked seventh with 15 points, just two behind sixth-place TCU (17 points) and four ahead of eighth-place UNLV (11). New Mexico, which is ranked second in the nation in the 2011 USTFCCCA preseason poll, picked up seven first-place votes en route to 49 points. Colorado State grabbed the other first-place vote and 43 points for second, while Air Force (34), Wyoming (32) and Boise State (23) rounded out the top five.
Last season, SDSU took seventh of the (then) nine teams and first among non-elevation schools. Marianne Hogan, now a junior, led San Diego State last year in all six races, including a course-record victory at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, a runner-up placing at the UCSD Triton Classic and a sixth-place showing at the Aztec Invitational.
SDSU kicks off its 2011 slate on Sept. 17 when its hosts the 67th annual Aztec Invitational at Balboa Park. Five races will be contested over the day beginning with the women's open 5,000 (5K) at 8 a.m. PT. San Diego State will compete in the women's invitational 5K at 8:30 a.m. PT, before giving way to the men's races (invitational 8K at 9 a.m. PT and open 8K at 9:30 a.m. PT). A community 5K race will conclude the day's activities at 10 a.m. PT.
2011 Mountain West Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. New Mexico (7) - 49
2. Colorado State (1) - 43
3. Air Force - 34
4. Wyoming - 32
5. Boise State - 23
6. TCU - 17
7. San Diego State - 15
8. UNLV - 11
- First-place votes in parenthesis