Besides the seventh-ranked OU football team, there are two other nationally ranked teams on campus whose seasons begin Saturday.

The OU men’s cross country team is ranked No. 2 in the preseason regional rankings, and the OU women are 13th in the Midwest Region, according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association.

Because of the success both teams had last season, their rankings are higher than last year’s preseason rankings when the men were sixth and the women were No. 14.

The men’s squad returns its entire team from last season, including Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Bill Kogel and All-Midwest Region honorees Kevin Schwab, Rob Sorrell and Jeremy Sudbury.

The team ended its 2009 campaign with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA National Championships, a second-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional and a third-place finish at the Big 12 Conference Championships.

The women return four letter winners from last year’s squad and add four highly touted recruits: Robin Hay, Hilary Krein, Annie Martin and Kelsey Brown.

The 2010 cross country season gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday in Tulsa at the Hurricane Cross Country Festival.

— MJ Casiano/The Daily