PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State men's cross country team is ranked 13th in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I 2018 Preseason Poll, the organization announced Tuesday, marking it's second-straight season in the preseason top-13.

The WSU men are also ranked fourth in the USTFCCCA Division I Men's West Region Rankings, while the Cougar women are ranked ninth in the women's preseason West Region Rankings. The WSU men finished the 2017 season ranked seventh regionally after placing 24th as a team at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Just three Pac-12 schools rank ahead of them with Stanford in fourth, Colorado in seventh and Oregon in eighth.

Last season's No. 11 preseason national ranking marked the first time WSU had been in the top-30 at the start of the season since 2012. This season marks the first time that the Cougar men have been ranked in the preseason poll in back-to-back years.

The WSU men finished seventh as a team at the 2017 NCAA West Region Championships, while then-junior Vallery Korir placed 19th at the NCAA West Region Championships for the WSU women, on her way to a 33rd-place finish at the NCAA Championships. 

Korir returns for the women for her senior season after becoming only the fourth woman in WSU women's cross country history to earn All-America honors (top-40 individuals), while the men return five of the seven NCAA-team members in Chandler Teigen (63rd), Nathan Wadhwani (94th), Matthew Watkins (201st), Justin Janke (206th) and Paul Ryan (232nd).

For complete men's and women's team national and regional rankings, visit ustfccca.org.

WSU's cross country runners compete Aug. 31 at the WSU Alumni Meet in Colfax, Wash.