Men’s Cross Country Ranked 20th in Latest NCAA Poll

Only CAA Team Featured in Rankings

09/30/03 10:33AM

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary men’s cross country is ranked 20th in the latest MONDO NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Poll. The Tribe, the only CAA program to be included in the rankings, received 181 points in the voting. Defending national champion Stanford topped the poll with 478 points. The poll is conducted by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association.

The College, which was ranked #18 in last week’s poll, actually dropped two positions despite defeating then-#13 Georgetown at the George Washington Invitational on Saturday. A late entrant to the meet (opting to compete at George Washington instead of the Great American Festival as scheduled due to logistical issues in the wake of Hurricane Isabel), the then-#18 Tribe bested Georgetown in a closely contested battle, with William and Mary taking the team and individual victories. Three-time All-American Ed Moran (Dayton, NJ) took top honors for the College, which took half of the top-10 positions and placed nine runners in the top-20. Many other cross country programs were contesting the competitive Great American Festival this past weekend, which featured a larger field of ranked teams than the George Washington Invitational, a factor that would be considered in voting. Georgetown remains ranked ahead of the Tribe, although it dropped one position to #14.

William and Mary has a scheduled break before returning to action on October 18, when the squad will split by sending some runners to the NCAA Preview Invitational in Cedar Falls, IA while others will remain in Williamsburg to contest the Tribe Open.

2003 Week 2 Poll - September 29, 2003
Ranking Team (first place votes) Points
1 Stanford (14) 478
2 Wisconsin (2) 466
3 Northern Arizona 444
4 Arkansas 423
5 BYU 403
6 Colorado 397
7 Central Michigan 391
8 Oregon 350
9 Colorado State 343
10 Iona College 322
11 Ohio State 317
12 Michigan 315
13 Arizona State 264
14 Georgetown 237
15 Virginia 233
16 Villanova 220
17 Providence 209
18 Arizona 201
19 Indiana 196
20 William & Mary 181
21 Portland 141
22 North Carolina State 133
23 Oklahoma State 128
24 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 127
25 Notre Dame 123
26 Texas A&M 113
27 Washington State 64
28 LaSalle 46
29 Eastern Michigan 35
30 Miami (Ohio) 30

Others receiving votes: Duke 29, Washington 24, Air Force 13, Weber State 12, Minnesota 9, Butler 7, Michigan State 4, Montana State 4, Texas 3, UCLA 3, Georgia 2.