COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Anderson University women's cross team is receiving votes in the latest Division II National Coaches Poll, as released Wednesday afternoon by the organization.
The Trojans opened the delayed season by claiming wins in each of their first two outings – the Royals Challenge and the 8th Annual North Georgia Cross Country Invitational – by convincing margins. In addition, AU junior Melea Sangl claimed first place at Spartanburg Methodist's Biscuit Collegiate Invite less than two weeks ago in Mill Spring, N.C.
Senior Olivia Rish has paced AU in both meets, including a runner-up finish at North Georgia and a fourth-place performance in the Queen City, with Trojan runners combining for 11 top-10 spots over the course of the two races. Four Trojans (Rish, Hannah Beach, Rebecca Ward and Kamryn Osterbind) have already posted career-best times this season.
The Trojans are slated to get back on the course at Friday afternoon's Newberry Cross Country Invitational.
The ranking committee, in its first year of existence, consists of coaches that represent their conference. Division II conferences with teams competing in 2020 are the South Atlantic Conference, Lone Star Conference, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Mid-American Conference, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, Peach Belt Conference, Gulf South Conference, Great Midwest Athletic Conference and the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Each Monday, the conference representative submits a ranking of the top six men's and women's teams in their conference. A team cannot be ranked in their conference or nationally until they have competed this season. Each Tuesday the conference representative submits a national ranking of all of the teams (from the conference rankings) in order from 1-15 for the men's and women's teams.
Conference rankings are posted each Tuesday afternoon, followed by the national rankings on Wednesdays.
COMPLETE RANKINGS
Rank Team Points (1st Place Votes)
1 Western Colorado 105 (7)
2 Colorado Mines 98
3 Walsh 84
4 MSU Denver 78
5 Hillsdale 70
6 Adams State 67
7 Lee 65
8 Dallas Baptist 63
9 Southwest Baptist 55
10 Colorado – Colorado Springs 43
11 Mississippi College 30
12 Malone 30
13 Drury 23
14 Cedarville 11
Also receiving votes: Westminster (5), Illinois-Springfield (5), Anderson (1)
