The William and Mary women's cross country team took a historic leap into the national polls Tuesday, as a strong performance over the weekend at the Paul Short Invitational propelled W&M to the No. 17 ranking in the latest USTFCCCA poll. It is the first time that the Tribe has been ranked in the nation top-30 since the 2006 pre-season poll.
The College placed two runners in the top six and three in the top-20 at Friday's Paul Short Invitational, placing second overall and beating four ranked teams in the process. The vanquished included top-10 teams Providence, Georgetown, and Villanova, the latter two accounting for the last three NCAA Championships. This is the 55th week that the women's cross country team has been ranked in the national polls since 1995 (out of 131 polls), and 17th is the highest ranking for W&M since the Tribe was 15th in the Sept. 23, 2002 poll.
W&M also took a precipitious leap in the Southeast Region rankings, which came out on Monday. The Tribe climbed from seventh to first in the region, making what is believed to be its first-ever appearance atop the region poll. The College has finished as high as fourth at the region championships, achieving that finish eight times since 1980 and most recently in 2009.
William and Mary's next races will come on Oct. 13, with the squad
appearing at two events. The varsity runners while compete at the
Pre-National Invitational in Louisville, Ky., while the majority of the
team will host the Tribe Open in Williamsburg. The next national poll
will come out on Tuesday, Oct. 16.
| Oct. 2 USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll |
| Rank |
Team (First Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Florida State (11) |
359 |
| 2 |
Arizona |
336 |
| 3 |
Washington |
332 |
| 4 |
Oregon (1) |
327 |
| 5 |
Iowa State |
308 |
| 6 |
Georgetown |
294 |
| 7 |
Stanford |
275 |
| 8 |
Michigan |
267 |
| 9 |
Cornell |
246 |
| 10 |
Michigan State |
237 |
| 11 |
Arkansas |
229 |
| 12 |
Vanderbilt |
202 |
| 13 |
Weber State |
188 |
| 14 |
Penn State |
177 |
| 15 |
Toledo |
168 |
| 16 |
Notre Dame |
163 |
| 17 |
William and Mary |
157 |
| 18 |
Colorado |
153 |
| 19 |
New Mexico |
152 |
| 20 |
San Francisco |
142 |
| 21 |
Boston College |
137 |
| 22 |
Oklahoma State |
120 |
| 23 |
Columbia |
105 |
| 24 |
Villanova |
98 |
| 25 |
Butler |
83 |
| 26 |
N.C. State |
74 |
| 27 |
Minnesota |
59 |
| 28 |
Providence |
58 |
| 29 |
Wisconsin |
29 |
| 30 |
Yale |
23 |
RV - Syracuse, Virginia, Texas, Florida, Dartmouth, Princeton, Kentucky, North Carolina
|
| Southeast Region Rankings |
| Ranking |
Team |
Last Week |
| 1 |
William and Mary |
7 |
| 2 |
N.C. State
|
1 |
| 3 |
North Carolina |
2 |
| 4 |
Kentucky |
4 |
| 5 |
Duke |
3 |
| 6 |
Virginia |
5 |
| 7 |
Clemson |
6 |
| 8 |
Appalachian State |
14 |
| 9 |
Liberty |
15 |
| 10 |
Richmond |
12 |
| 11 |
Eastern Kentucky |
10 |
| 12 |
James Madison |
NR |
| 13 |
Elon |
11 |
| 14 |
East Carolina |
9 |
| 15 |
Wake Forest |
NR |
