William & Mary Men Ranked 22nd in Latest NCAA Poll

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary men's cross country has earned its first ranking of the season as the Tribe checks in at No. 22, tied with Miami of Ohio, in the latest NCAA MONDO National Poll. The ranking comes after another strong meet for the Green and Gold, coming Friday at the Great American Festival, as the split-squad College placed two runners in the top-20 and four in the top-30 to claim third overall in the Race of Champions. Additionally, the Tribe beat out two key regional rivals (Duke and Virginia) at the meet, and finished only 25 points shy of then-No. 8 N. C. State which took second. Voters minds also may have been swayed by the Tribe's consistent depth as only the College and victor Michigan (then-No. 6, now-No. 5) placed all of its scoring five among the top-35 points paying positions.

The ranking, however, does not only reflect the team's recent success and is a vindication of a very successful season to date, despite the Tribe sending split squads to all meets. Highlighting the stretch was W&M's victory at Virginia\'s Lou Onesty Invitational, where the Green and Gold placed five runners in the top-15 to outpace Ohio State, Virginia and Virginia Tech on a wet day in Charlottesville. The team also placed a solid eighth of 36 teams at the elite Paul Short Invitational as sophomore Adam Tenerowicz (Blackstone, MA) raced to 10th in a field of national-caliber athletes. Tenerowicz was recognized as the CAA Runner of the Week for his performance. In the College\'s only other action on the season, at W&M\'s own Colonial Invitational which kicked off the 2004 campaign, the Tribe placed all six of its runners in the top-20 in the meet that did not feature team scoring. In addition to Tenerowicz, two other College harriers have snared CAA Runner of the Week honors with sophomore Keith Bechtol (Alexandria, VA) getting the nod for his 19th place at Great American and senior Jeff Hedley (Virginia Beach, VA) earning the honor for his fourth at the Lou Onesty Invitational.

The Tribe is back in action on October 16 as some of the team competes at the NCAA Pre-Nationals while other harriers contest the squad's own Tribe Open in Williamsburg, VA.

NCAA MONDO National Poll (October 5)
Ranking Team (first place votes) Region Points Previous
1 Wisconsin (14) GL 420 1
2 Stanford W 404 2
3 Arkansas SC 384 4
4 Iona NE 383 3
5 Michigan GL 358 6
6 Colorado M 336 5
7 Georgetown MA 334 7
8 North Carolina State SE 318 8
9 Notre Dame GL 296 30
10 Butler GL 276 11
11 Villanova MA 268 12
12 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo W 266 10
13 Air Force M 257 13
14 BYU M 245 9
15 Arizona State W 230 14
16 Providence NE 185 17
17 Minnesota MW 172 16
18 Florida State S 161 28
19 Indiana GL 141 15
20 Oklahoma State MW 137 22
21 Colorado State M 121 20
22—tie William & Mary MA 113 --
22—tie Miami (Ohio) GL 113 19
24 Ohio State GL 88 21
25 Oregon W 75 25
26 Montana State M 62 29
27 Georgia S 60 23—tie
28 Central Michigan GL 59 18
29 Washington W 50 26—tie
30 Iowa MW 33 26—tie