Men's Cross Country Opens at #2 in USTFCCCA Division III Poll
09/05/07
Fresh off its 2006 NCAA Division III national runner-up performance, the New York University men's cross country team is ranked #2 in the first U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Poll announced Wednesday.
The Violets, who are #1 in the Atlantic Region rankings released by the USTFCCCA, trail only 2006 NCAA Division III national champion Calvin College. It is the program's best-ever preseason ranking.
NYU returns All-Americans Hany Abdallah, Jon Phillips, Jesse Schneider and Ryan Williams, as well as All-University Athletic Association (UAA) performer James McCarthy, from a squad that won its first-ever UAA and NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional championships last fall.
The Violets opened their season Sept. 1 with a team victory at the Monmouth University Cross Country Kickoff, finishing ahead of several Division I outfits despite not running any of its top-seven runners returning from 2006.
NYU will host the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championship on Nov. 10 at the famed Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
The Violets resume action Saturday, Sept. 15, when they host the NYU Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park. Start time for the meet is 9:45 a.m.
USTFCCCA Division III men’s cross country poll
Sept. 5, 2007
(first place votes in parenthesis)
1. Calvin (8)
2. New York University
3. Wisconsin-La Crosse
4. SUNY Cortland
5. St. John’s (Minn.)
6. North Central
7. College of New Jersey
8. Allegheny
9. Wheaton
10. Colorado College
11. Haverford
12. Wisconsin-Oshkosh
13. Williams
14. (tie) Willamette
14. (tie) Carnegie Mellon
16. Wartburg
17. Wisconsin-Platteville
18. Nebraska Wesleyan
19. Heidelberg
20. SUNY Geneseo
21. Luther
22. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
23. Ohio Northern
24. Trinity College (Conn.)
25. Mount Union
26. Rochester
27. Carleton
28. Augustana
29. Occidental
30. Bowdoin
31. Brandeis
32. Elmhurst
33. Case Western Reserve
34. Rhodes
35. Grinnell