NEW ORLEANS - Florida State's women surged into the top ranks of collegiate cross country with its outstanding performance at Saturday's Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind.
By placing a strong second behind top-ranked Stanford in Saturday's Blue Race at the same facility that will be used for next month's NCAA Championships, Florida State improved eight spots to third in the Division I poll released today by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Stanford won the Blue Race with 101 points behind the two-three finish of Teresa McWalters and Arianna Lambie. The two-time defending NCAA champion Cardinal received all 13 first-place votes in this week's USTFCCCA poll.
But the individual winner of the Blue Race was Florida State's Susan Kuijken, who clocked a record 19 minutes, 55.5 seconds over the 6,000-meter course. The Seminoles placed second in the Blue Race with 123 points.
Princeton, the winner of Saturday's White Race in Terre Haute, jumped four spots in this week's poll to fourth.
This week's top 10 consists of Stanford, Oregon, Florida State, Princeton, Arizona State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Washington and Illinois.
The second 10 consists of Georgetown, Colorado State, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Colorado, Rice, BYU, Iowa, West Virginia and Northern Arizona.
Colorado was ranked second in last week's poll. The Buffalos dropped 13 spots to No. 15 even though its top runner, Jenny Barringer, won the White Race in Terre Haute. Barringer broke Kuijken's minutes-old course record by clocking 19:48.3 to finish eight seconds in front of North Carolina standout Brianna Felnagle.
Texas Tech's women improved 10 spots to 14th following their win at Saturday's Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. With Sally Kipyego and Irene Kimaiyo finishing one-two, Texas Tech won the women's title title with 83 points, defeating host Arkansas by four points.
Second-ranked Oregon also didn't compete at Pre-Nationals. The Ducks placed their top five runners in the top 11 in easily winning the Mike Hodges Invitational in Clackamas, Ore.
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The 2007 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships will be held Nov. 19 in Terre Haute.
The voting panel for the Division I women's poll consists of nine elected regional representatives and four at-large USTFCCCA members. The rankings are compiled by Jesse Rosen.
NCAA Division I women's cross country rankings
Oct. 16, 2007
(first-place votes, total points and previous ranking; NR: not ranked)
Team Points Previous
1. Stanford (13) 390 1
2. Oregon 368 3
3. Florida State 365 11
4. Princeton 358 8
5. Arizona State 332 6
6. Michigan 320 13
7. Michigan State 317 9
8. Minnesota 294 4
9. Washington 280 12
10. Illinois 264 10
11. Georgetown 251 22
12. Colorado State 234 14
13. Arkansas 231 5
14. Texas Tech 221 24
15. Colorado 214 2
16. Rice 202 7
17. BYU 192 15
18. Iowa 161 23
19. West Virginia 155 21
20. Northern Arizona 151 NR
21. Wisconsin 128 25
22. Providence 109 18
23. North Carolina State 96 26
24. UC Santa Barbara 92 27
25. Virginia Tech 86 19
26. Penn State 64 30
27. Florida 63 20
28. Boston College 41 16
29. Georgia 40 28
30. Nebraska 14 29
Also receiving votes: Kentucky 5, North Carolina 4, Baylor 2, Columbia 1.
