STANFORD, Calif. -- The Stanford men's and women's cross country teams have been identified by Flotrack.org as NCAA contenders, as reflected by its preseason rankings.
The Cardinal men are ranked No. 2 and the women are No. 3.
In the second installment of the USTFCCCA rankings this season, the Stanford men remained No. 2 and the Cardinal women moved up one spot to No. 6.
Stanford is coming off a second-place men's finish at last year's NCAA meet. The Cardinal was 14th in the women's meet, but return all seven of that lineup and welcome the return of 2013 Pac-12 individual champion Aisling Cuffe after a year off from injury.
The Stanford men return five of its top seven and have four returning cross country All-Americans. In addition to Cuffe, the women return 2014 Pac-12 runner-up Elise Cranny, now a sophomore. She was the leading freshman (in 12th) at NCAA's last year.
The Stanford men should also get a boost from the return of Jim Rosa (fifth in the 2013 NCAA race) from a redshirt season, and the addition of graduate transfer Collin Liebold -- a track second-team All-America -- from Georgetown, though he has been hampered by injury thus far.
Also, Stanford welcomes freshman Grant Fisher, a two-time Foot Locker national cross-country champion and a sub-4 miler.
Stanford next races at the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 26 at the Stanford Golf Course.