SAN FRANCISCO – Six Pac-12 Conference cross country teams appear in the top 10 to lead a national-best total of 11 men’s and women’s programs in the preseason United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national rankings released on Tuesday.

MEN’S

4. Stanford

7. Colorado

8. Oregon

13. Washington State

20. UCLA

27. Washington

WOMEN’S

2. Colorado

3. Stanford

4. Oregon

18. Washington

20. California

RV: Utah

The Pac-12's combined 11 ranked teams are the most of any conference in the country, highlighted by six top-30 men's programs, which are double the next closest league, as well as three of the five ranked women’s programs debuting in the top 5.

Eleven former NCAA All-Americans return to Pac-12 rosters this fall, including eight of the league-record and national-best 14 All-Americans from 2017. Colorado and Stanford will lead the way with three All-Americans apiece – Mackenzie Caldwell (2016), Sage Hurta (2017) and Dani Jones (2017) for the Buffaloes, and Christina Aragon (2016), Elise Cranny (2014) and Fiona O’Keeffe (2017) for the Cardinal. Washington will have two in recent transfers Lilli Burdon (2017) and Katie Rainsberger (2017), followed by one each from California (Brie Oakley - 2017), Oregon (Carmela Cardama Baez - 2017) and Washington State (Vallery Korir - 2017).

The Cardinal also bring in the nation’s No. 1 recruit in Caitlin Collier as part of FloTrack’s No. 2 ranked incoming class. Washington, under new coaches Maurica and Andy Powell, secured the nation’s No. 7 class, while Colorado landed the ninth-best class led by No. 6 rated recruit Annie Hill.

On the men’s side, seven former NCAA All-Americans dot Pac-12 lineups including three from defending Conference champion Stanford in Steven Fahy, Grant Fisher and Alex Ostberg. Colorado also returns a trio of former All-Americans in John Dressel (2016), Eduardo Herrera (2017) and Joe Klecker (2016). Matthew Maton, a 2016 NCAA top-40 finisher, will lead Oregon.

In addition to the trio of returning All-Americans, both the Stanford and Colorado men’s programs landed the best recruiting hauls in the Conference, ranked fourth- and seventh-best nationally according to FloTrack.

Eight Pac-12 teams open their racing schedules this weekend, followed by NCAA Championship countable events beginning on Sept. 7. The 2018 Pac-12 Championships will be hosted by Stanford at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 26. For the second straight year, the Championships will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks with racing starting at 11 a.m. PT.

The NCAA Mountain and West Regionals will be held Friday, Nov. 9 in Provo, Utah and Sacramento, Calif., respectively, with teams advancing to the 2018 NCAA Championships in Madison, Wisc., on Saturday, Nov. 17.

The Pac-12 will be looking to add to its distinction as the winningest conference in NCAA Cross Country history this fall as current league members boast the most combined team national championships (28 – 16 men/12 women) and individual titles (28 – 25 men/3 women) of any league in the country.