Nov. 13, 2012

TUCSON - The University of Arizona Wildcats women's cross country team will head into the NCAA Championships ranked as the No. 5 team in the country. The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association released the final national poll on Tuesday.

After tying for second place at the NCAA West Regionals, the women slid one spot in the rankings. After losing the tie-breaker to Stanford and missing the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, they received an at-large bid. The squad had four All-West Region honorees in senior Jen Bergman, junior Elvin Kibet, sophomore Nicci Corbin and senior Elizabeth Apgar.

Arizona is accompanied by four other Pac-12 schools in the national poll. Oregon climbed a spot to No. 2, Stanford moved up a spot to No. 4, Washington stayed at No. 7 and Colorado moved up one spot to No. 23. Oregon won the NCAA West Regional and Colorado took third at the NCAA Mountain Regional.

On the men's side, four Pac-12 schools are ranked in the national poll. Stanford moved up one spot to No. 2, Colorado fell five spots to No. 7, Oregon dropped five spots to No. 16 and UCLA climbed five spots to No. 22. Stanford won the NCAA West Regional while Colorado finished in third place at the NCAA Mountain Regional.

The UA men had two All-West Region honorees in sophomore Lawi Lalang, who claimed his second-straight region title, and senior Stephen Sambu, who had a runner-up finish.

The NCAA Championships will be hosted by the University of Louisville at Tom Sawyer State Park. On Saturday, November 17, the women's 6,000-meter race is set to begin at 10 a.m. MST followed by the men's 10,000-meter race at 11:15 a.m. NCAA.com will air a live broadcast of the meet beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday.