NEW ORLEANS - One day after matching its highest regional ranking in program history, the University of Toledo women's cross country team earned six votes in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national poll, ranking the team 36th in the country.
This is the first time that Toledo is receiving votes in the national rankings since the preseason poll of 2004, where the Rockets received four votes and were also ranked No. 36. The highest Great Lakes Region ranking for the Rockets was in 2001 and 2002 when they were ranked fourth, which is also where the team sits now.
The highest national ranking the Rockets enjoyed was in 2002 when they were ranked 26th in the Top-30 poll. The women's program had received votes in the national polls for five straight years from 2000-2004.
During that span of five nationally-ranked years, the Rockets enjoyed unprecedented success, winning two MAC Championships and recording four-straight top-8 finishes in the NCAA Regional Championships. During that time, Toledo also sent five different women to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Also announced today was the MAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week award, which was earned by sophomore Ari Fisher (Lebanon, OH), who won her second meet of the season after crossing the finish line first at last Saturday's Colonial Inter-Regional Challenge. She set a personal-best time on a 6K course with her effort of 21:04.3 and helped lead the Rockets to a commanding victory over two other regionally ranked opponents in William & Mary and Navy. Fisher also earned Runner of the Week honors on Oct. 23, 2007 after she placed third overall at the Tiffin Short Course meet.
The Rockets will send their "B" Team to the Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, IL this Saturday while their top runners will train in preparation for the Pre-NCAA Invitational on Oct. 17 in Terre Haute, IN.
Contact: Scott Miles
scott.miles@utoledo.edu