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Mountaineer
Men
Ranked #1; Women Begin 2003 In 9th
August 29, 2003
NAIA Rankings - Men
| Women
OLATHE, Kan. - After a
second-place finish at last year's national meet and the lost of just
one person from that seven-man squad, the Mountaineers were recognized
by all seven NAIA national raters with the top spot in the 2003
pre-season cross country poll.
The unanimous vote is the first for the
Eastern men.
Head coach Ben Welch was not surprised,
but he knows that the "target" is now firmly entrenched on
the back of the EOU thinclads.
"There are at least half a dozen
teams out there we're not going to take lightly, to put it
mildly," said coach Ben Welch in an interview earlier in the week
with the La Grande Observer. "Even in our own region, we
have to watch our backs."
This is the second time that the team has
been ranked No. 1.
Last year, the team
gained the top spot with four of the seven available first-place vote
during the third week of the season. The following week would be
a week off for the Mountaineers while Minot State (Minn.) grabbed the
top spot back from Eastern.
The Mountaineers
would not see #1 again for the rest of 2002.
The NAIA raters must
know something that Coach Welch doesn't, as Eastern Oregon grabbed 117
of a possible 175 points good enough for 9th position in this
morning's 2003 pre-season poll.
"There's a lot of injuries. A lot
of pre-existing injuries," Welch said about his women's squad. "(They) could be a
top-20 team ... if we're healthy."
This is not the
highest pre-season rating for the women's team. In 1999 and
2000, the team received 5th and 8th-place respective starting point
for those seasons.
In 2002, EOU started
that season in 22nd position and then ended the season with a 7th
place finish at the NAIA National Meet.
The men will start
defending their No.1 ranking next Saturday at the Whitman College
Invitation in Walla Walla, Wash.
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