Aug. 12, 2009

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV women's cross country team was picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West Conference, the league released today in a poll of the conference's nine head coaches.

The Rebels, who received 20 points in the preseason poll, are entering their fourth season under head coach Tony Houchin and open the season at Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 5.

BYU was narrowly picked to win the league crown with 62 points, just ahead of New Mexico, which had 59 points, while Colorado State was third with 48. Air Force and Utah shared fourth place with 38 points, followed by Wyoming (31) in sixth, the Rebels, TCU (17) and San Diego State (11). The Lobos won last year's MWC Championship, beating BYU by two points.

The Rebels finished in seventh place at the 2008 MWC Championships for the second consecutive season, and those finishes were the best for the program since 2000, when they came in sixth place.

UNLV will run in four regular-season meets, all of them in California, before competing at the 2009 MWC Championships on Oct. 31 in Provo, Utah.