Women's cross country picked second, men third

OGDEN -- The Weber State women's cross country team was picked to finish second in its bid for their fourth straight Big Sky Conference title, according to a vote of the league's head coaches released Tuesday by the conference. Both Northern Arizona men's team and women's team were picked first in the preseason polls. The WSU men's team was selected third.

The Wildcat women's team has captured the conference title in each of the past three seasons. With the departure of defending champion Summer Harper, due to a LDS Church mission, coach Paul Pilkington willl look towards junior Jamies Stokes and sophomore Ellie Child to lead the team. Both athletes finished in the top 10 during last year's race.

Northern Arizona received nine first place votes in the polls and totaled 141 points. WSU was second with 2 first place and 130 total points, Eastern Washington was picked third while Montana State was picked to finish fourth.

On the men's side Northern Arizona was a unanimous choice, receiving 10 first-place votes and a total of 142 points. The Lumberjacks have won the last seven Big Sky titles.

Southern Utah was picked to second with 2 first-place votes and 133 total points. WSU was third with 115 points. WSU returns five of their top six runners which includes Trevor Ricks, who placed 48th last year in the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. They will also see the return of Mike Hardy, who redshirted last season and a handful of other runners who have recently returned from serving missions.

Weber State begins the season Sept. 5 at the Utah Murray Invite in Murray. They will also compete in meets at BYU, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The Big Sky Championships will be Nov. 1 in Grand Forks, ND.

The University of New Mexico will play host for the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, which will be held Friday, Nov. 14.

The 2013 NCAA Championships will be held Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.