IRVING — UTSA was picked to finish eighth in the preseason Conference USA poll that was announced by the league office on Wednesday morning.
In a vote of the circuit's head coaches, defending champion Rice picked up nine first-place votes and is the preseason favorite. The Owls were followed by Middle Tennessee, which picked up the other three first-place nods, and Southern Miss, Charlotte, North Texas, UTEP and WKU were slotted third through seventh, respectively, ahead of the Roadrunners. Marshall, UAB, Florida Atlantic, FIU and Louisiana Tech rounded out the rankings.
This year's C-USA Championships are scheduled to take place on Oct. 29 in Concord, N.C.
"We are excited to be ranked in the Conference USA preseason poll," cross country coach Dave Hartman said. "We have a great group of young runners who are excited to get the season going. We think we can drastically improve when the season moves to the Conference USA Championships in late October."
The women, who return six letterwinners from a year ago, are coming off last year's eighth-place finish at the league meet. Sophomore Yulisa Abundis paced the squad at its two postseason meets, as she placed 26th at the C-USA Championships and 34th a week later at the NCAA South Central Regional.
The Roadrunners will begin their campaign next Friday, Sept. 2, in College Station when they compete at the Aggie Opener.
