University of Tennessee Athletics
FINISHLYNX/NCAA CROSS COUNTRY POLL ACKNOWLEDGES LADY VOLS
September 18, 2002 | Women's Cross Country
Sept. 18, 2002
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
The University of Tennessee women earned themselves some national recognition with their victory at last Friday's Tennessee Invitational. On Wednesday, when the first FinishLynx/NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Poll of the regular season was released, the Lady Vols joined those receiving votes with three points.
It was a step in the right direction for the program, which is under the guidance of first-year coach J.J. Clark. The Big Orange recorded a win in its season-opener and finished ahead of two teams who topped the squad at last year's NCAA South Regional. Clark is trying to lead Tennessee back to the NCAA Championship meet for the first time since 1998.
Preseason favorite Brigham Young received all 13 first-place votes and tallied 390 points to get the top nod, followed by Georgetown, Stanford, Colorado and Notre Dame. Arkansas is the only other Southeastern Conference team in the poll, checking in seventh, while UT ranks third among NCAA South Region schools South Florida and Georgia Tech.
The Lady Vols will be back in action on Saturday, as they travel to Raleigh, N.C., to take part in the Wolfpack Invitational at 9:10 a.m. Included in the list of schools Clark's club will be facing is No. 6 North Carolina State.
| Rk. | Team (First-place votes) | Points |
| 1. | Brigham Young (13) | 390 |
| 2. | Georgetown | 375 |
| 3. | Stanford | 359 |
| 4. | Colorado | 345 |
| 5. | Notre Dame | 333 |
| 6. | North Carolina State | 321 |
| 7. | Arkansas | 311 |
| 8. | Duke | 291 |
| 9. | Michigan State | 261 |
| 10. | Northern Arizona | 246 |
| 11. | UCLA | 236 |
| 12. | Villanova | 221 |
| 13. | William & Mary | 195 |
| 14. | Marquette | 187 |
| 14. | Penn State | 187 |
| 16. | Yale | 182 |
| 17. | Boston College | 178 |
| 18. | Providence | 173 |
| 19. | Arizona State | 165 |
| 20. | Colorado State | 160 |
| 21. | Wisconsin | 138 |
| 22. | Texas A&M | 121 |
| 23. | Columbia | 97 |
| 24. | Wake Forest | 89 |
| 25. | Minnesota | 81 |
| 26. | Virginia | 71 |
| 27. | Arizona | 61 |
| 28. | Cornell | 53 |
| 29. | Weber State | 46 |
| 30. | Coastal Carolina | 31 |
| Additional Teams Receiving Votes: South Florida 23, Michigan 21, Toledo 19, North Carolina 17, Southwest Missouri State 17, Washington 14, Georgia Tech 11, Dartmouth 6, James Madison 5, Boston Univ. 3, Tennessee 3, Rhode Island 2. | ||
