The Minnesota women’s cross country team moved up five spots to No. 4 in this week’s U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I National Poll, marking the highest national ranking in Golden Gopher women’s cross country history. The ranking comes on the heels of the Gophers defending their Roy Griak Invitational title last weekend, compiling an impressive 31 team points against a large talented field.
“Obviously this No. 4 national ranking marks an exciting day for our program, but you don’t coach this long without knowing that a poll is just a poll,” said Golden Gopher head coach Gary Wilson, in his 24th season at Minnesota. “We have a veteran team though that understands this high of a national rank is a compliment to our program and that they have a lot of work to do this season to live up to it.”
Minnesota is one of five Big Ten teams ranked in the nation’s top 15. Michigan State is ranked No. 8, followed by No. 10 Illinois, No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 15 Michigan. Oregon retained the No. 1 rank, with Washington at No. 2 and Florida State at No. 3.
Previously, the highest national ranking in the USTFCCCA poll in Gopher history was No. 5, heading into the 2007 NCAA Championships.
The Gophers will split its squad this weekend to compete in the UW-Eua Claire Blugold Open on Friday and the South Dakota State Invitational on Saturday.
USTFCCCA Women’s Division I Cross Country National Poll (Sept. 30)
Ranking Team (first place votes) Region/Rank Totals Previous
1. Oregon (11) West-1 359 1
2. Washington (1) West-2 345 3
3. Florida State South-1 337 2
4. Minnesota Midwest-1 317 9
5. Stanford West-3 309 4
6. Princeton Mid-Atlantic-1 291 7
7. Arizona State West-4 281 5
8. Michigan State Great Lakes-1 276 8
9. West Virginia Mid-Atlantic-2 268 6
10. Illinois Midwest-2 258 10
11. Arkansas South Central-1 243 11
12. Wisconsin Great Lakes-2 221 13
13. Providence Northeast-1 203 16
14. Florida South-3 188 15
15. Michigan Great Lakes-3 176 17
16. Baylor South Central-2 162 24
17. Colorado State Mountain-2 152 14
18. New Mexico Mountain-1 135 NR
19. Rice South Central-3 117 18
20. North Carolina State Southeast-1 112 29
21. Texas Tech Mountain-5 110 12
22. Georgetown Mid-Atlantic-3 102 21
23. BYU Mountain-3 100 22
24. Northern Arizona Mountain-4 88 19
25. Boston College Northeast-2 79 25
26. Duke Southeast-3 66 20
27. Iowa Midwest-3 58 27
28. North Carolina Southeast-2 53 28
29. Tennessee South-2 36 NR
30. Stony Brook Northeast-3 31 26
ORV: Colorado (30), Penn State (27), UC-Riverside (14), Villanova (9), Nebraska (6), Notre Dame (6), Portland (4), SMU (4), Tulsa (4), Akron (1), Syracuse (1), and UC-Irvine (1).
