Sept. 3, 2004

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State's men's and women's cross country teams were both picked high by Big West coaches in the preseason polls released this week by the league office. Cal Poly (81 points) and UC Santa Barbara (67) men lead the polls followed in third place by Utah State with 64 points. The USU men have finished in the upper division of the conference for the past 12 years. Ten of those finishes have been in first or second place. USU has several returning runners including David Danley, Clark Bryner, Trevor Ball and Carson Campbell. Danley and Bryner both finished in the top 20 at last year's Big West Championships. The women are listed in fifth place after receiving 67 points. They are coming off a surprise second place finish at last year's Big West Cross Country Championships where Cal Poly, currently ranked third, beat them. The women have finished in the upper division of the conference for the past 10 years and look to do the same this season. The Aggie women look to run another strong season with five returning runners. Lida Clapier Ripplinger will lead the pack coming off a sixth place individual finish at the 2003 Big West Championship, followed by Ashley Johnson, Sarah Dimmick, Tiffany Strickland and Rebekah Meier. The Aggies are also looking forward to the return of Audrey Golightly who redshirted the 2003 season due to injury. Both teams open their seasons competing at the Idaho State Invitational on Saturday. Men's Cross Country Coaches Poll Results Rank School Points

1.		Cal Poly		(9) 	81
2.		UC Santa Barbara		67
3. 		Utah State			64
4.		UC Irvine			46
5.		UC Riverside			38
		Idaho				38
7.		Cal State Fullerton		35
8.		Long Beach State		24
9.		Cal State Northridge		12

Women's Cross Country Coaches Poll Results Rank School Points

1.		UC Santa Barbara	(9)	99
2.		Idaho			(1)	83
3.		Cal Poly			77
4.		UC Irvine			72
5.		Utah State			67
6.		Long Beach State		41
7.		Cal State Northridge		39
8.		Cal State Fullerton		34
9.		UC Riverside			28
10.		Pacific				10

( ) First-place votes