LAKE CHARLES – McNeese men's cross country team is holding steady at No. 7 in this week's USTFCCCA South Central Regional ranking while the Cowgirls have jumped into the top 15 with a ranking of 13 released by the organization this week.
Both teams are coming off strong showings at last week's Rice Invitational where the Cowboys placed fifth in the 14 team field and Cowgirls were eighth out of 15 team.
“It's great to see both teams get recognized for their efforts early on,” said head coach Brendon Gilroy. “We're just working hard on getting better. We have a lot of the season to go.”
The Cowboys are one of six Southland Conference teams ranked in the regional and are the third highest. Texas tops the ranking while Lamar, at No. 4, is the highest Southland school ranked.
On the women's side, the Cowgirls are one of five SLC schools ranked in addition to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at No. 9, Stephen F. Austin No. 10, Sam Houston State at No. 11 and Lamar at No. 15.
Both teams will be back in action on Sept. 29 when McNeese hosts the Cowboy Stampede while select men's runners will travel to run in the Notre Dame Invitational the same day.
“Our top seven men's runners have been invited to the Notre Dame Invite where they will go head-to-head with some of the best teams in the nation,” said Gilroy.
USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning team strength with current-season results in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.
USTFCCCA Men's South Central Region Rankings
1. Texas
2. Texas A&M
3. Arkansas
4. Lamar
5. Rice
6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
7. McNeese State
8. UTSA
9. Stephen F. Austin
10. Houston
11. Texas-Arlington
12. Baylor
13. UTPA
14. Central Arkansas
15. Sam Houston State
USTFCCCA Women's South Central Region Rankings
1. Arkansas
2. Texas
3. Texas A&M
4. Baylor
5. SMU
6. UTSA
7. TCU
8. Rice
9. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
10. Stephen F. Austin
11. Sam Houston State
12. Arkansas State
13. McNeese State
14. Texas-Arlington
15. Lamar