DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference announced its men's and women's outdoor track and field pre-championship coaches polls, as voted on by the eight head coaches in the league. Grand Canyon was selected as the favorite to win both the men's and women's championship.
On the men's side, Grand Canyon was picked as the favorite with three first place votes and 28 points overall. Utah Valley captured second place with 27 points and three first place votes. Right behind the Wolverines is Missouri-Kansas City with 23 points. UT Rio Grande Valley with 18 points and Seattle U with 14 points grab the fourth and fifth spots. CSU Bakersfield is sixth with nine points and Chicago State rounds out the men's poll with seven points.
For the women, Grand Canyon was also picked as the favorite to win the conference championship with five first place votes and 41 points overall. Utah Valley was close behind with 36 points and one first place vote. Also earning one first place vote was Missouri-Kansas City. The ‘Roos had a total of 32 points. NM State grabs the fourth spot with 26 points. UT Rio Grande Valley with 23 points, Seattle U with 17 points, and Chicago State with 13 points are fifth, sixth, and seventh. CSU Bakersfield rounds out the women's poll at eighth place with eight points.
The 2016 Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field championships will take place in Lawrence, Kansas this Wednesday-Saturday, May 11-14.
2016 Pre-Championship Men's Outdoor Track & Field Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st - Place Votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (3) 28
2 Utah Valley (3) 27
3 Missouri-Kansas City 23
4 UT Rio Grande Valley 18
5 Seattle U 14
6 CSU Bakersfield 9
7 Chicago State 7
2016 Pre-Championship Women's Outdoor Track & Field Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st - Place Votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (5) 41
2 Utah Valley (1) 36
3 Missouri-Kansas City (1) 32
4 NM State 26
5 UT Rio Grande Valley 23
6 Seattle U 17
7 Chicago State 13
8 CSU Bakersfield 8