NEW ORLEANS, LA. – The University of Sioux Falls men's cross country team, which opens the fall season on Friday, has been ranked ninth in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA DII Poll.

In the USTFCC's first poll of the season, the Cougars, which was ranked #2 in the Central Region earlier this week, received 132 vote points in the first poll of the season. USF, ranked #8 in the final poll of 2014, was ranked just behind Western State, 8th, with 149 points and Alaska-Anchorage, seventh with 151.

The rest of the top 10 includes: Adams State, 1st, 198; Grand Valley State, 2nd, 193; Augustana, 3rd, 177; Chico State, 4th, 175; Colorado Mines, 5th, 172; and Southern Indiana, 6th, 158. In the final three top-10 spots, Alaska Anchorge was 7th with Western State, 8th, Sioux Falls, 9th and Cal Poly Pomona, 10th.

In 2014, USF, directed by head coach Grant Watley, was second in both the conference and regional meets a year ago. The Cougars used the momentum of those performances to finish a program-best eighth at the NCAA DII nationals. USF and Augustana were the only two NSIC schools in the top 25 of the national poll.

Earlier this fall, the Cougars were picked to finished second in a preseason poll by NSIC coaches.

The Cougars open the 2015 season in town, running at the Augustana Twilight Invitational on Friday, Sept. 4 at Yankton Trails Park. The women's three-mile race is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. and the men's four-mile race is slotted for a 9 p.m. start.