NEW ORLEANS - On the heels of an impressive second-place outing at Lenoir-Rhyne last weekend, the Anderson University women's cross country team made its first regular-season appearance in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) DII Regional Rankings at No. 6.
The Trojans, who were ranked 10th in the preseason poll in early September vaulted from being unranked through the first five weeks to the sixth spot by eclipsing seventh-ranked King, eighth-ranked Queens, No. 9 Columbus State and 10th-ranked GRU Augusta, all of which dropped two spots from last week. Georgia College dropped out of the weekly rankings.
Montevallo maintained its grasp on the top spot, while Wingate remained second in the poll. North Georgia moved up one slot in this week's rankings to No. 3, with Mars Hill slipping from third to fourth this week. Flagler was the other team to see a marked change from last week, as the Saints jumped from 10th to fifth, just ahead of the Trojans.
The Peach Belt Conference was represented by five teams, while the South Atlantic Conference saw four squads in the poll and Conference Carolinas had one team in the rankings.
The Trojans are coming off the second-place finish at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational, hosted in Newton, N.C. last weekend. Four AU runners captured top-10 finishes, with freshman Haylee Love slashing more than two minutes off her career-best time to pace the Trojans with a third-place effort in a time of 19:13.68. Fellow freshman Alex Dixon (19:23.08) was just behind in fourth, while sophomore Olivia Gardner brought home sixth place with a time of 19:25.37. Senior Sydney Hazel (19:45.50) crossed the line in 10th, with sophomore Bari Robinson placing 14th in a time of 20:01.73.
Classmate Mia Swiersz also notched a personal-best time of
20:15.31 to claim the 17th spot. Freshman Allison Halperin set a
season-best time of 20:38.55 and crossed the line in 19th, while
sophomore Amber Worthy (20:46.56) finished 22nd. Sophomore Grace
Gerlock posted a time of 21:13.14 to claim 28th and freshman Taylor
Morris took 31st with a time of 21:22.16.
Anderson returns to action at the South Atlantic Conference
Championships on Saturday, Nov. 8 in Salisbury, N.C.
