NEW ORLEANS— Coming off back-to-back national championship team appearances, the Colorado Mesa University women's cross country team was tabbed 13^th in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division II National Coaches' Preseason Poll, released by the organization on Wednesday.
 
The Maverick men were also listed in the others receiving votes category and just outside the top 30.
 
The women's No. 13 ranking is the program's highest since 2015 when they were ranked 11^th in both the preseason and week No. 1 rankings.  Last year's Maverick squad ranked as high as 14^th and ended up 20^th in the final poll before in that same position at the NCAA Division II National Championships, their best ever finish.
 
Maverick Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Travis Floeck is entering his third year in charge of the Mavs and returns five of his seven runners from the national championship contingent.
 
He also returns six of his seven men from the NCAA South Central Regional Championship unit that placed ninth.
 
Both Maverick squads are also ranked in the USTFFCCCA's 2026 Preseason Regional Rankings, which were announced Tuesday.  The Maverick women were picked sixth while the CMU men were tabbed ninth.
 
CMU's women had come in tied for fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Preseason Coaches' Poll, while the Maverick men were tabbed eighth.
 
CMU will open the season on Sept. 19, splitting the squad between meets at MSU Denver and Western Colorado University in Gunnison.