LARAMIE, Wyo. – This Friday, Oct. 26, the Wyoming cross country teams will compete for a Mountain West Championship on Morley Field at Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif. The men's race will feature four teams ranked in the nation's top 17, while the women's race includes the reigning national champions as part of three teams in the top 27 of the country. The women's six-kilometer race begins at 10 a.m. (MT), while the men's eight-kilometer race starts at 10:45 a.m. (MT).

The No. 13 Wyoming Cowboys – ranked in the coaches' poll for the first time in program history – join No. 8 Boise State, No. 16 Air Force and No. 17 Colorado State in a loaded men's race. The Cowboys recently edged the No. 17 Rams at Pre-Nationals by three points, as CSU was one of six nationally-ranked teams the Cowboys placed in front of at the end of the race.

"We are looking forward to the competition," men's cross country coach Scott Dahlberg said. "We know it's going to be quite the battle between a lot of teams at the front end of the conference. We're just excited to be in it. I think if the guys run to plan and are in the mix with about two kilometers to go, then we'll have to see where everything falls, and hopefully we can make something good happen."

On the season, junior Paul Roberts – winner of two MW Cross Country Athlete of the Week awards – has been Wyoming's top finisher in all three races, while juniors Christopher Henry and Harry Ewing have finished second and third for the Brown and Gold, respectively, in all three races. Last season, Ewing placed 26^th at the MW Championships, while Henry finished 41^st. This will be Roberts' first appearance at the MW Championships after transferring from CSU-Pueblo this fall.

The women's field is just as talented, as No. 2 Boise State, No. 3 New Mexico – the 10-time defending conference champions and reigning national champions – and No. 27 Utah State are expected to lead the way. The Cowgirls are running well at the moment, winning the Roadrunners Invite as a team and placing fourth at the Bronco Invitational two weeks ago.

"These girls have been progressing very nicely over the last couple of weeks, and we have gained some confidence from these meets," associate head coach Amanda Clower said. "I'm really excited to see how they perform on Friday. I think they have a lot of confidence behind them, and they're going to use that. The goal is to come in as close together as we can as a team to lower our score, and I'm excited to see that happen."

For the Cowgirls, junior Ashley Bock has crossed the finish line first for the Brown and Gold in each of the last two races, with freshman Katelyn Mitchem finishing second for UW. The first two races of the season, those results were switched as Mitchem was UW's top finisher followed by Bock. Mitchem was named the MW Cross Country Athlete of the Week earlier this season. Last year, Bock placed 46^th at the MW Championships, while Emily Person, then a junior, finished 54^th.

Links to live results and a paid live stream are available on GoWyo.com, and updates can be found on Twitter @wyo_track.