Owls Ranked 24th in Cross Country Poll
10/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 17, 2005
Houston -
Powered by a ninth-place finish in the "Blue" race at the Pre-Nationals meet Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind., Rice's women's cross country team moved into the national rankings at number 24 in the latest FinishLynx NCAA Division I Women's National Poll.
The Owls had three individual runners finish in the top 60 at Pre-Nationals, led by Marissa Daniels in 29th and Kate Gorry in 37th. Rice beat five schools previously ranked in the top 30.
"This is a ranking that was gained by a lot of hard work by our team," said Rice head coach Jim Bevan. "It is important for our runners to know where they stand in comparison to other teams around the nation, and this is great news."
Rice will compete in its first Conference USA championships October 29 in Orlando, looking to improve on a second-place finish at the 2004 WAC championships. Gorry won WAC top honors individually last year, and Daniels was an NCAA national qualifier.
FinishLynx NCAA DIVISION I
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL POLL
2005 Poll #4 - October 17, 2005
| Ranking | Team (first place votes) | Points |
| 1. | Duke (13) | 390 |
| 2. | Stanford | 373 |
| 3. | Michigan | 365 |
| 4. | Notre Dame | 352 |
| 5. | Arizona State | 338 |
| 6. | Illinois | 323 |
| 7. | Columbia | 307 |
| 8. | Brigham Young | 301 |
| 9. | North Carolina State | 285 |
| 10. | Colorado | 279 |
| 11. | Minnesota | 250 |
| 12. | Wake Forest | 233 |
| 13. | Northern Arizona | 216 |
| 14. | Boston College | 204 |
| 15. | Oklahoma State | 203 |
| 16. | Providence | 194 |
| 17. | Arkansas | 181 |
| 18. | Princeton | 172 |
| 19. | Virginia | 162 |
| 20. | Baylor | 149 |
| 21. | Tennessee | 137 |
| 22. | Oregon | 125 |
| 23. | Michigan State | 119 |
| 24. | Rice | 96 |
| 25. | North Carolina | 77 |
| 26. | Washington | 65 |
| 27. | Butler | 55 |
| 28. | Georgia | 38 |
| 29. | Marquette | 23 |
| 30. | Iowa | 18 |
Other Teams Also Receiving Votes: Georgetown 7, Boston Univ. 5, UCLA 2, Villanova 1.
Players Mentioned
