Official Release
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 six first place votes and 36 points overall. Utah Valley captured second place with 31 points and one first place vote. Right behind the Wolverines is Kansas City with 24 points. UT Rio Grande Valley with 23 points and CSU Bakersfield with 15 points grab the fourth and fifth spots. Seattle U is sixth with ten points and Chicago State rounds out the men's poll with eight points.
For the women, Grand Canyon was also picked as the favorite to win the conference championship with six first place votes and 48 points overall. NM State was close behind with 43 points and two first place votes. Utah Valley is favorited to finish third and had a total of 37 points. Kansas City grabs the fourth spot with 32 points. UT Rio Grande Valley with 25 points, CSU Bakersfield with 18 points, and Seattle U with 14 points are fifth, sixth, and seventh. Chicago State rounds out the women's poll at eighth place with seven points.
The 2018 Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field championships will take place in Lawrence, Kansas this Wednesday-Saturday, May 9-12.
2018 Pre-Championship Men's Outdoor Track & Field Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st - Place Votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (6) 36
2 Utah Valley (1) 31
3 Kansas City 24
4 UT Rio Grande Valley 23
5 CSU Bakersfield 15
6 Seattle U 10
7 Chicago State 8
2018 Pre-Championship Women's Outdoor Track & Field Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st - Place Votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (6) 48
2 NM State (2) 43
3 Utah Valley 37
4 Kansas City 32
5 UT Rio Grande Valley 25
6 CSU Bakersfield 18
7 Seattle U 14
8 Chicago State 7