Women?s Cross Country Ranked No. 13 Nationally
October 20, 2015 | Cross Country
STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the first time in program history, the Mississippi State women's cross country team is ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Coaches' Poll, coming in at No. 13 in the latest rankings that were announced Tuesday.
While the team has been receiving votes for a majority of the season, a standout performance at the Pre-NCAA meet this past weekend finally broke the Bulldogs into the rankings.
“It's exciting to get recognition for the team doing well,” MSU coach Houston Franks said. “I know we have a good team and we can do special things, but these headlines don't mean anything. We still have to come out the next four to five weeks and compete.”
On Monday, FloTrack also announced MSU at the 13th spot in the Saucony Flo50 rankings, while MSU senior Marta Freitas earned recognition in the individual rankings at No. 25. This is Freitas' first appearance on the list.
Also on Monday, the women landed at the USTFCCCA's No. 1 spot in the South Regional Rankings, moving up from fourth place last week.
At the Pre-NCAA meet this past Saturday, the women scored 247 points to bring home fifth place, upsetting numerous ranked opponents. The Bulldogs were only three points behind fourth-place finishers No. 10 Stanford.
The Maroon and White also finished above four ranked opponents and all SEC teams in appearance at the Pre-NCAA meet.
Coming in at MSU's No. 1 spot, Freitas finished 12th overall with a time of 20:15.20 in her first 6K. Not far behind Freitas was junior All-American Rhianwedd Price in her second meet of the season. She placed 14th with a time of 20:17.70.
Claiming MSU's third spot was senior Cornelia Griesche clocking a time of 20:57.70 to finish 69th. Ffion Price and Mia Meydrich rounded out MSU's Top 5 in 82nd and 86th place, respectively. Ffion Price ran 21:02.60 in her first 6K for MSU, while Meydrich ran a personal-best 21:03.00.
Lisa Ziegler and Shannon Fair finished sixth and seventh for the Bullogs in the meet.
For the fifth-consecutive week, New Mexico landed in the No. 1 spot.
Next the Bulldogs will travel to College Station to compete in the SEC Championships on Oct. 30. Only two other SEC schools are ranked, No. 4 Arkansas and No. 26 Vanderbilt, going into the SEC Championships.
For more information on the MSU cross country teams visit HailState.com and follow on Twitter (@HailStateTF).
