NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Alaska Anchorage cross country teams picked up where they left off last fall with the women's team polled at No. 6 and the men's squad at No. 8 in the 2012 U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association Preseason Ranking, announced Friday.

The UAA women's team, which finished sixth at the National meet in November, leads the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the NCAA Div II West Region. Augustana (S.D.), the 2011 National Champion, tops the chart at No. 1 and is followed by Adams State (No. 2) and Grand Valley State (No. 3). The nearest GNAC foe is NCAA newcomer Simon Fraser at No. 9.

On the men's side, the Seawolves trail West Region's Chico State, which sits at No. 3. Leading the poll is Adams State at No. 1 and Western State at No. 2, while the GNAC's Western Washington commences the season at No. 10.

The UAA women have been ranked in the top 10 for 33 weeks straight, while the men's team has cracked the top-15 for 20 consecutive weeks.

The Seawolves start the 2012 slate with the Hawaii Pacific Invitational on Saturday in Ka'a'awa, Hawaii. The races are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ADT.