The WSU cross country team looks to start the season strong after being ranked No. 11 in the preseason coaches poll.

The men’s cross country team had previously made it to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, placing 26th in 2015, and 14th in 2016. Senior distance runner Sam Levora, who has been with the program for four years, has seen the transformation of the team that started years ago.

“My freshman year, we were last in the Pac-12 and this year, we are looking to potentially win the Pac-12,” Levora said. “It’s impressive how far we’ve come in four years, and it’s only going to improve.”

Head Coach Wayne Phipps believes that the men’s team can make it to that top-10 spot in the NCAA championship that narrowly escaped them one year prior.

“That has been our minimal goal,” Phipps said, “to be in the top 10, which doesn’t limit us to being ninth.”

Senior distance runner Michael Williams, having earned the All-American title at the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championship, has proved that he is  an asset to the team. Williams and Levora, will strive to maintain the goal of making it to the top 10 as the season unfolds with the help of junior distance runners Nathan Tadesse, Nathan Wadhwani and Chandler Teigen.

The women’s team has also been showing progress, but senior distance runner Devon Bortfeld gives all the credit to Phipps.

Bortfeld was the women’s cross country captain her junior year and may be returning to that role this year. Phipps’ individualistic coaching style has helped the women’s team build confidence and a sense of purpose, Bortfeld said.

“Each plan is very individual . . . it makes you feel like you’re more than just a number,” Bortfeld said. “It’s this feeling that [Phipps] believes in you and that you’re worth investing into. You can’t help but to want to perform well off of that, you want to make him proud.”

Assistant Coach CharLee Linton may be the newest addition to the coaching staff, but she’s no stranger to the team. She walked-on as a distance runner in 2012 and earned a scholarship during her junior and senior year.

Linton will prove to be a quintessential addition to the team’s success this year, Phipps said.

“She has great coach’s intuition, a great eye for the sport and she’s very knowledgeable,” Phipps said of Linton. “The transition has been seamless, the student athletes absolutely respect her and she’s going to be an amazing coach for us.”

The cross country team will hold a WSU Alumni Meet at 5 p.m. Friday in Colfax before heading to the Oregon Preview, which begins 10 a.m. on Sept. 7.