Washington remains at #1 in latest USTFCCCA poll...

NEW ORLEANS--The University of Washington women's cross country team (left/photo by Paul Merca) continued its hold on the nation's number one spot, according to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll released Tuesday.

Washington and Florida State retain their hold to the top two spots in the women’s poll. Washington has been at No. 1 for three straight weeks. The top six teams did not change from a week ago, but there was shuffling to the bottom of the top ten. Providence shifted back up to No. 7 while Villanova has reached a season-best-No. 9 ranking.

The Huskies are one of five Pac-12 teams in the national top 30, as selected by a national panel of voters.  Others from the conference include #3 Oregon, #6 Stanford, #12 Arizona, and #15 Colorado.

The national top five are Washington, Florida State, Oregon, Georgetown, and Iowa State.

On the men's side, Wisconsin retains its #1 spot, followed by Oklahoma State, BYU, Oklahoma and Portland.  

The top school from the Pac-12 is #7 Colorado. Others include #9 Stanford, #23 Oregon, #29 Washington State, and #30 UCLA.

Columbia moved up one spot to #28 to leapfrog the Cougars.

For many of the country's top teams, this coming weekend is potentially the first weekend of some major shifts in the top teams, as many are competing in key invitationals this weekend.

The Washington women head to Louisville for the Greater Louisville Classic on the same course that the NCAA championships will be run, where they'll face seven ranked teams including #8 Vanderbilt and #10 Arkansas.

Defending Pac-12 champ Katie Flood, along with All-American Megan Goethals are projected to make their season debut for the Huskies in Louisville, after sitting out the first two races of the season.

Washington State travels to the Notre Dame Invitational, where they'll face ten ranked teams, led by #10 Florida State, #11 NC State, and #14 Texas A&M.


NOTE:  The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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