Colorado State University Athletics
Rams open season ranked No. 30 in USTFCCCA poll
8/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Colorado State men’s cross country team enters the 2014 campaign ranked No. 30 in the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association’s Division I National Cross Country Coaches' Poll.
This is the first time the Rams have been ranked in the preseason national poll since 2005, when Colorado State began the year at No. 26. Last season, the team finished 26th at nationals.
Despite graduating four letterwinners from the team that finished second at the Mountain West championships last season, Head Coach Art Siemers is confident that transfers Alex Dillenbeck from Iowa State and Byron Jones from Columbia will help bolster the Rams’ lineup this year for a run at the conference title.
Colorado State returns senior Andrew Goodman and redshirt sophomore Jefferson Abbey. Both athletes were named second-team all-MW, finishing ninth and 11th, respectively, at the league championships last season.
The Rams open the year hosting the CSU Open on Sept. 5 on the Hughes Stadium grounds. The collegiate portion of the meet will begin at 6 p.m. MT.