Aug. 22, 2006

LAS VEGAS - UNLV cross country was picked to finish ninth in the Mountain West Conference the league announced today in a vote of the conference's coaches.

The Rebels open up their season on Sept. 9 at the UC Irvine Invite, part of five regular-season meets for UNLV, including their own on Oct. 7 in Las Vegas. The Rebels will then compete in the MWC Championship on Oct. 28 in Salt Lake City.

Leading the Rebels this year will be sophomore Jenni Shearer, who paced UNLV in every cross country meet last year, including posting a 48th-place finish at the MWC Championships.

For the seventh straight season, the BYU women's team received eight first-place votes and gathered a perfect score of 64 to capture the top position in the women's poll. Colorado State collected the other first place vote and was selected to finish second with 56 points. New Mexico claimed the third spot with 49 points, followed by Wyoming (41 points) in fourth, and Air Force and San Diego State (28 points apiece) tied for fifth. Utah was picked to finish seventh with 26 points, while TCU (22) and UNLV (10) were picked eighth and ninth, respectively.

Women's Cross Country Coaches PollPl.  Team (1st Place Votes)          Points1.    BYU (8)                        642.    Colorado State (1)             563.    New Mexico                     494.    Wyoming                        415.    Air Force                      285.    San Diego State                287.    Utah                           268.    TCU                            229.    UNLV                           10