FinisFollowing an impressive second-place showing at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational last Saturday, the Minnesota women’s cross country team was rewarded with the No. 11 ranking in this week’s FinishLynx NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Poll. The Golden Gophers were unranked heading into the Griak, but performed well in the meet defeating six nationally ranked teams.

The Gophers’ No. 11 ranking is the second-highest poll position in school history. Minnesota was ranked No. 8 for a week during the 2000 season. Ironically, the Gophers were the Griak champion that season and later advanced to the NCAA Championships.

FinishLynx/NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL POLL (Conducted by the Women's Cross Country Coaches Association) 2005 Poll #2 — September 26, 2005 Rank Team (first place votes) Points 1. Duke (10) 387 2. Colorado (3) 379 3. Notre Dame 362 4. Stanford 345 5. Michigan 340 6. Arizona State 320 Brigham Young 320 8. Villanova 290 9. North Carolina State 286 10. Arkansas 257 11. Minnesota 255 12. Wake Forest 243 13. Baylor 221 14. Oklahoma State 199 15. Tennessee 194 16. Princeton 182 17. UC – Santa Barbara 176 18. Butler 142 19. Providence 139 20. Columbia 134 Illinois 134 22. Marquette 110 23. Virginia 107 24. Missouri 77 25. Yale 61 26. Georgetown 59 Northern Arizona 59 28. Florida State 58 29. Michigan State 52 30. Washington 45 Other Teams Also Receiving Votes: Georgia 38, Colorado State 30, Boston College 24, Rice 9, Boston University 5, Utah State 4, Wichita State 2.