Cross Country: Back to No. 19 in Nation

By Daniel Whitehead for WVUsports.com
October 04, 2011 04:00 PM

Sean Cleary

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After five weeks of competition, the West Virginia cross country team is ranked No. 19 in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches of America (USTFCCCA) national poll released Tuesday.

Ranked No. 19 two weeks ago, the mark is the second time this season the Mountaineers have been given the tab. WVU is coming off an eighth-place finish over the weekend at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic in which the team earned 247 points out of 30 schools competing in the women’s gold 5k race.

“We seem to be hovering around the No. 20 spot all season,” says WVU coach Sean Cleary. “Our sport is broken into three distinct seasons: September is preseason, October is regular season and November marks the championship season. Things will become much clearer after the regular season. For now, we are satisfied with where our preparations are.”

Redshirt junior Stephanie Aldea was the first Mountaineer to finish in Louisville, arriving in 15th place in 17:26, while redshirt senior Ahna Lewis came in 19th place. Sarah Martinelli, Aubrey Moskal and Jordan Hamric also scored team points in the race.

West Virginia moved up one spot to No. 4 in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional standings released Monday, swapping with Princeton. In the national rankings, Villanova moved up to No. 1 from No. 5 after coming in second place at the Paul Short Invitational to No. 2 Providence. No. 3 Florida State rose four spots after winning the Notre Dame Invitational over No. 2 New Mexico and No. 18 Arkansas.

BIG EAST foe Syracuse is No. 8, while Georgetown went from No. 1 to No. 5. The BIG EAST and Pac-12 each have six teams in the national top 30 to lead the way among conferences. The ACC and Big Ten follow with five teams apiece.

Next week is slated to be a repeat week, meaning all positions on this week’s poll will carry to next week.

The Mountaineers next compete on Friday, Oct. 14, at the Penn State National in University Park, Pa. The team’s first 6k race of the year begins at 9 a.m.

Week 4 USTFCCCA Poll
1 ... Villanova
2 ... Providence
3 ... Florida State
4 ... Colorado
5 ... Georgetown
6 ... Stanford
7 ... New Mexico
8 ... Syracuse
9 ... Iowa State
10 ... California
11 ... Arkansas
12 ... Oregon
13 ... North Carolina
14 ... Arizona
15 ... Michigan State
16 ... Virginia
17 ... Texas
18 ... Michigan
19 ... West Virginia
20 ... Penn State
21 ... Minnesota
22 ... Florida
23 ... Iowa
24 ... Washington
25 ... Notre Dame
26 ... Duke
27 ... BYU
28 ... Princeton
29 ... Oklahoma State
30 ... Clemson

NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional
1 ... Villanova
2 ... Georgetown
3 ... Penn State
4 ... West Virginia
5 ... Princeton
6 ... Navy
7 ... La Salle
8 ... Loyola (Md.)
9 ... Maryland
10 ... Lehigh
11 ... Saint Joseph's
12 ... Bucknell
13 ... Penn
14 ... Towson
15 ... Duquesne

Tags
WVU Cross Country, Sean Cleary