COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Anderson University women's cross team continues to receive votes in the latest Division II National Coaches Poll, as recently released by the organization.
The Trojans won their first two outings of the fall season and closed out their fall slate by finishing second at the Newberry Invitational in a field that included a trio of NCAA Division I teams. Competing individually, junior Melea Sangl captured first place at Spartanburg Methodist's Biscuit Collegiate Invite less than three weeks ago in Mill Spring, N.C.
Senior standout Olivia Rish paced AU in all three meets, including a runner-up finish at North Georgia, a third-place finish at Newberry and a fourth-place performance in the Queen City, with Trojan runners combining for 15 top-10 spots over the course of the three races. Four Trojans (Rish, Hannah Beach, Rebecca Ward and Kamryn Osterbind) notched personal-bests during the fall campaign.
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. The next national poll is slated for Nov. 17-18.
Rank Team Points (1st Place Votes)
1 Western Colorado 105 (7)
2 Colorado School of Mines 98
3 Walsh 87
4 MSU Denver 81
5 Lee 70
6 Hillsdale 64
7 Adams State 63
8 Dallas Baptist 54
9 Southwest Baptist 49
10 UC-Colorado Springs 43
11 Mississippi College 27
12 Malone 22
13 Drury 21
14 NW Missouri 20
15 Central Missouri 13
Also receiving votes: Illinois-Springfield (7), Cedarville (7), Southern Indiana (6), Westminster (2), Anderson (1)
