Posted: September 28, 2005

Athletics: Arkansas Moves up to No. 2 in Cross Country Poll

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After a dominating team performance at the Iona College Meet of Champions over the weekend, the Razorback cross country team moved up to No. 2 in the United States Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USCCCA) MONDO Men’s Cross Country Poll released on Tuesday. Arkansas was given four first-place votes and 465 points and is only two points behind the current No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers (467). Wisconsin picked up eight first-place votes. When UA advanced in the poll the Hogs displaced the defending NCAA champion Colorado Buffalos. CU also earned four first-place votes, but only have 458 points in the No. 3 spot.

UA remains the only Southeastern Conference team found in the top 30 and it is one of two teams from the South Central Region listed in the poll. Arkansas had been listed as the third-best team in the country for the past two weeks, but proved it deserved to be ranked higher when the Hogs went head-to-head against then seventh-ranked Iona College and came away with a 20-point victory on a tough Van Cortlandt Park course. UA finished 57 points ahead of the second-place Gaels.

For the third-consecutive week Arkansas was ranked No. 1 in the South Central Region. Texas sits in second place and Rice is No. 3. Texas A&M is fourth and Baylor rounded at the top five. Baylor will host the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Nov. 12, in Waco, Texas. The 2005 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held on Nov. 21, in Terre Haute, Ind., at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

The Razorbacks will return to the trails this weekend when they travel to Stillwater, Okla., for the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree. The men’s collegiate race is slated to start at 9:40 a.m. on Oct. 1.

Mondo Men’s NCAA-I Cross Country Poll

Ranking          Team (first place votes) Points
1.                 Wisconsin (8)                            467
2.                 Arkansas (4)                            465
3.                 Colorado (4)                     458
4.                 BYU                                 429
5.                 Stanford                          412
6.                 Notre Dame                     394
7.                 Arizona                            384
8.                 Iona College                            357
9.                 Texas                               348
10.               Iowa                                335
11.               Cal Poly San Luis Obispo          313
12.               Georgetown                    286
13.               UTEP                               272
14.               Michigan                          263
15.               William & Mary                246
16.               Ohio State                      239
17.               North Carolina State  201
18.               Florida State                            198
19.               Indiana                            166
20.               Minnesota                         164
21.               Air Force                     154
22.               Portland                          142
23.               Arizona State                            130
24.               Kansas                              101
25.               American                        86
26.               Colorado State                 74
27.               Virginia                            61
28.               Providence                      58
29.               Northern Arizona             49
30.               Butler                              43

South Central Region Poll
1.                            Arkansas
2.                             Texas
3.                             Rice
4.                             Texas A&M
5.                             Baylor
6.                             Stephen F. Austin
7.                             LSU
8.                             UT-Pan American
9.                             Sam Houston
10.                         TCU
11.                         North Texas
12.                         Lamar
13.                         A&M-Corpus Christi
14.                         Houston
15.                            UT-San Antonio