Cal Poly was the unanimous choice to win the 2005 Big West Men's Cross Country championship as the preseason coaches poll was unveiled today. The Mustangs are trying to capture their third straight conference championship after finishing last season ranked ninth in the final MONDO cross country poll.

Cal Poly captured all seven first-place votes for 49 points. The Mustangs return plenty of talent from a squad that finished 10th at the 2004 NCAA Championships. Senior Andy Coughlin and junior Luke Llamas came in seventh and eighth at the 2004 Big West Championships, respectively. The top performer for the Mustangs at the national championship was senior Brandon Collins, an 82nd-place finisher, while sophomore Phillip Reid came in 84th place.

UC Santa Barbara received 42 points as a unanimous second place pick. The Gauchos finished in the top 10 at the West Regional meet last year, returning juniors Chris Ashley and Mike Chavez from that squad. Ashley came in fourth place and Chavez sixth at the conference championship.

In third place with 32 points was Long Beach State, which looks to improve on its sixth place standing at the Big West meet. UC Irvine received 30 points for fourth place and Cal State Fullerton was fifth with 19 points. UC Riverside (16 points) and Cal State Northridge (8 points) rounded out the poll.