Minnesota Cross Country Ranked First in Midwest, 26th in the Nation - GOPHERSPORTS.COM - The Official Athletic Site of the Minnesota Gophers

Minnesota Cross Country Ranked First in Midwest, 26th in the Nation
The University of Minnesota men's cross country team, the defending NCAA Midwest Region champions, is the preseason favorites to capture the title again in 2002. In the preseason poll released by

theThe University of Minnesota men's cross country team, the defending NCAA Midwest Region champions, is the preseason favorites to capture the title again in 2002. In the preseason poll released by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association, Minnesota is ranked first followed by Oklahoma State in the Midwest Region.

In the preseason MONDO Men's National Poll, Minnesota was ranked 26th with 93 points. Colorado, the defending NCAA champion grabbed first place with 449 points taking 14 out of the 15 first-place votes. Other Big Ten teams listed were defending conference champion Wisconsin at No. 4, Michigan State at No. 14, Indiana at No.23 and Michigan at No. 28. Penn State and Ohio State also received votes.

MONDO Men's Cross Country Rankings
Pre-Season Poll released Aug. 27. First regular season poll will be released Sept. 17.

NE = Northeast, MA = Mid-Atlantic, SE = Southeast, GL = Great Lakes, MW= Midwest, SC = South Central, MT = Mountain, W = West, S = South.

Top two teams in Regional Championships on Nov. 10 will automatically qualify for Nationals on Nov. 19. Thirteen other teams qualify based on criteria listed in the NCAA CC Championships Manual.

Rank Team (first place votes) Region Points 2001 1 Colorado (14) MT 449 1 2 Stanford (1) W 429 2 3 Arkansas SC 420 3 4 Wisconsin GL 400 5 5 Northern Arizona MT 392 4 6 Villanova MA 354 8 7 North Carolina State SE 342 9 8 Providence NE 337 10 9 Georgetown MA 300 15 9 Oregon W 300 13 11 BYU MT 291 12 12 Eastern Michigan GL 273 -- 13 Arizona State W 270 20 14 Michigan State GL 265 18 15 Portland W 163 7 16 Colorado State MT 161 22 16 William & Mary SE 161 16 18 Weber State MT 159 -- 19 Dartmouth NE 156 24 20 Duke SE 146 14 21 Iona NE 136 -- 22 Alabama S 132 29 23 Indiana GL 123 -- 24 Butler GL 120 23 25 Notre Dame GL 100 6 26 Minnesota MW 93 25 27 Washington W 90 -- 28 Michigan GL 50 11 29 Oklahoma State MW 40 31 29 Texas SC 40 28 Also receiving votes: SMU 35, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 31, Arizona 28, Air Force 27, Tennessee 22, UC-Santa Barbara 21, Nebraska 17, Penn State 12, New Mexico 11, Ohio State 4, Florida State 1.