Addition of Cates nudges Arkansas ahead of Colorado

By Adam Schneider of DyeStat

Preston Cates, a 2016 NCAA Division 2 All-American at Western State (Colorado), ran his first race for Arkansas and his presence has boosted the Razorbacks into a slight edge over Colorado at No. 1.

UTEP, which elevated to No. 20, has been revealed to have more than the three runners who represented the school at NCAAs last year. At the Lori Fitzgerald meet, hosted by UTEP, the Miners ran five with freshman Cornelius Kapel winning the 6,327-meter race in 20:05.6 to beat last year’s team leader, junior Antony Kosgei (20:35.8), and junior Jonah Koech, a two-time all-American who placed 11th at 2015 nationals. 

Eighth-ranked Furman returned the runners that redshirted in 2016, but did not race top runner Frank Lara at the first two meets, including last weekend's Furman Invitational. 

Big meets this weekend: 

Stanford at the University of San Diego Invitational

Iona, Princeton, and Arkansas (men) at Paddy Doyle MOC

BYU Autumn Classic

Alabama, Southern Utah and Arkansas (women) at UC Riverside Invitational

Sundodger (Washington) Invitational 

Top 20 (last week’s ranking)

1. Arkansas (2)

2. Colorado (1)

3. Northern Arizona (3)

4. Syracuse (4)

5. Stanford (5)

6. Iona (6)

7. BYU (8)

8. Furman (7) 

9. Wisconsin (8)

10. Iowa State (16)

11. Oregon (12)

12. Alabama (13)

13. Washington State (14)

14. Oklahoma State (11)

15. Virginia (10)

16. Colorado State (15)

17. Southern Utah (17)

18. Middle Tennessee State (18)

19. Boise State (NR)

20. UTEP (NR)

Teams to Watch: Princeton, Portland, Washington, Georgetown, Mississippi, Indiana, Eastern Kentucky