Wednesday, September 21, 2005

On a Poll Roll


It's a beautiful Wednesday here in the heart of Amish country ... let's take our weekly look at where we stand in the world of Division III rankings.

Men's Cross Country
Haverford continues to set the CC pace in the national ranking, remaining at the No. 4 spot behind Calvin, North Central and Wisconsin-La Crosse. The Fords are the top-ranked team in the Mideast Region, while Dickinson (7), Muhlenberg (9) and Swarthmore (10) are also in the regional top 10.

Women's Cross Country
The Sept. 20 ranking has not been posted as yet. Last week, Dickinson was ranked 13th nationally. The Red Devils are the unanimous No. 1 team in the Sept. 20 Mideast Regional rankings with Haverford (4) and Swarthmore (8) also listed.

Field Hockey
Three teams in this week's NFHCA top 20 with Ursinus leading the pack at No. 6. Franklin & Marshall dropped a spot after its loss at Eastern Mennonite to No. 11, while Gettysburg fell three slots to No. 16. Let's see if any of the "pollsters" noticed that Ursinus knocked off another No. 3 team yesterday - The College of New Jersey. That's two number-threes for the Bears this season ... and they'll probably still be ranked No. 6 next week. Poll watchers beware!

Football
McDaniel remained No. 23 in this week's D3football.com poll - one spot ahead of Bridgewater, whom the Terror defeated on the road in the season opener. The American Football Coaches Association does not list McDaniel, but does include Bridgewater at No. 24. Your guess is as good as mine. Just three games on this week's slate - Carnegie Mellon at Franklin & Marshall, Muhlenberg at Grove City, and Gettysburg at Denison. Conference play gets underway next Saturday!

Men's Soccer
Fresh off its 4-2 win against Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg jumped five spots to the No. 13 position in this week's NSCAA national top 25 and to the second spot in the Mid-Atlantic poll, trailing only national No. 1 Messiah. The Blue Jays tumbled eight spots nationally to No. 17 and one place to No. 3 in the region. Swarthmore returns to the regional rankings at No. 9.

Women's Soccer
Johns Hopkins improved by one spot to No. 15 following its thrilling win against Haverford. The Jays remain No. 3 in the region behind Messiah and TCNJ. The Fords fell one place in the Mid-Atlantic Region listing to No. 7.

Volleyball
The Conference is not represented in this week's AVCA national top 25. In fact, only four East Coast teams dot the list - Juniata (2), NYU (6), Cortland (19) and Eastern (25).

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