Women's Cross Country Jumps to No. 22 In Latest FinishLynx Poll

Tribe Continues to Beat Higher Ranked Opponents

10/06/04 11:11AM

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Defending CAA Champion William and Mary women’s cross country has improved two places in this week's FinishLynx / NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Poll to be ranked 22nd. The ranking comes after another strong meet for the College last Friday at the Notre Dame Invitational, where, in the 5,000m Blue Race filled with nine ranked teams, W&M claimed sixth place in the 24-team event. With four runners in the top-50 (including sophomores Julia Cathcart (Starkville, MS) and Meghan Bishop (Blue Bell, PA) who both clocked 17:30 for 29th and 30th, respectively), the Green and Gold impressed by beating out then No. 12 UCLA and then No. 20 Butler, both of whom were ranked higher than the College. The Tribe was the only program in the CAA or state of Virginia ranked.

The Tribe has been steadily climbing in the polls thanks to consistently outracing higher ranked opponents. At the Paul Short Invitational two weeks ago, the Green and Gold captured fourth place in the elite, nationally ranked field. With three Tribe harriers in the top-25, W&M beat out then-ranked No. 15 Georgetown and No. 27 Yale to secure the position.

W&M returns to action on October 16 with splits squads competing at the Penn State National Invitational and the team's own Tribe Open in Williamsburg, VA.

Rank Team (first place votes) Region Points
1 Stanford (12) W 389
2 Providence (1) NE 378
3 Michigan GL 362
4 Colorado MT 336
5 Notre Dame GL 334
6 Duke SE 327
7 Arizona State W 313
8 North Carolina SE 297
9 Tennessee S 277
10 Missouri MW 248
11 Villanova MA 243
12 Wake Forest SE 232
13 Southern Methodist 216
14 UC - Santa Barbara W 209
15 Georgia S 206
16 Columbia NE 202
17 Brigham Young MT 189
18 Michigan State GL 178
19 Baylor SC 174
20 North Carolina State SE 149.5
21 Arkansas SC 134
22 William & Mary SE 116.5
23 Idaho W 102
24 West Virginia SE 100
25 UCLA W 79
26 Butler GL 72
27 Texas Tech MT 57
28 Georgetown MA 44
29 Boston College NE 26
30 Marquette GL 24
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Florida State 7, Penn State 6, Illinois 5, Virginia 5, Colorado State 3, Washington 3, Oklahoma 1, Princeton 1