Kansas City, Mo. - Capitalizing on solid finishes last fall, the Women's Cross Country programs at Kansas Wesleyan University and Friends University find themselves considered among the best teams in this year's NAIA Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll.  The Coyotes come in at 14th after a final ranking of 20th last fall.  At the completion of the Fall 2009 campaign, the Falcons received votes nationally and were considered one of the top 30 programs in the country.  This fall they begin the season ranked 22nd.

Also receiving votes and consideration are the Southwestern Women, who are perennial contenders for the KCAC Cross Country Championship.

Kansas Wesleyan was selected by the KCAC Women's Cross Country Coaches as the Presason favorite in the conference while Friends edged out Southwestern as the preseason runnerup favorite. Rounding out the top five in the KCAC preseason poll are Bethany and Sterling who tied for fourth at 34 total points.

Here is the complete NAIA poll:

NAIA Rank	Last Poll	School	1st Place Votes	Total Points
1	4	Biola University	15	586
2	2	Cal. State University-San Marcos	6	571
3	5	Malone University		532
4	3	Simon Fraser University		531
4	1	Azusa Pacific University		531
6	6	College of Idaho		503
7	13	Concordia University (Calif.)		461
8	11	University of British Columbia		443
9	22	Concordia University (Ore.)		433
10	17	Black Hills State University		418
11	9	Point Loma Nazarene University		361
12	8	Concordia University (Neb.)		360
13	18	Milligan College		334
14	20	Kansas Wesleyan University		320
15	NR	Eastern Oregon University		272
16	16	Lewis-Clark State College		269
17	14	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University		268
18	10	Spring Arbor University		263
19	12	Morningside College		236
20	15	Aquinas College		233
21	NR	Shorter University		224
22	RV	Friends University		214
23	19	Indiana Wesleyan University		198
24	7	Cedarville University		181
25	25	Southern Oregon University		141

Westmont College (Calif.) 135; Saint Xavier University (Ill.) 106; Park University (Mo.) 95; Vanguard University (Calif.) 57; Southwestern College (Kan.) 40; Northwestern College (Iowa) 39; Lindenwood University (Mo.) 35; Wayland Baptist University (Texas) 22; Jamestown College (N.D.) 20; Mount Mercy University (Iowa) 17; Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) 14; Northwest Christian University (Ore.) 4; Taylor University (Ind.) 3; Siena Heights University (Mich.) 3; Dakota State University (S.D.) 1; Cornerstone University (Mich.) 1; Mills College (Calif.) 1; William Woods University (Mo.) 1; Oklahoma Baptist University 1; Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) 1; Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.) 1.