NEW ORLEANS - A strong recruiting class and an impressive finish at the season's opening meet has catapulted the Nicholls State University women's cross country team to their first appearance in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association's Top 15 South Central Region rankings, the governing body announced from their New Orleans office on Monday.
The ranking is the first for the Colonels since Nicholls moved up to NCAA Division I status in 1980.
"It's an exciting day for Nicholls, and it shows where the program is now," head cross country coach Matthew Esche said. "To actually get recognized by our peers who realize that we have a pretty good cross country team is an honor."
The Colonels broke into the top 15 after taking second place at the season-opening 29th Annual Golden Eagle Invitational at Southern Miss, finishing just behind the fourth-ranked Golden Eagles.
Nicholls is ranked 14th in the poll and is one of six Southland Conference schools in the top 15, giving the SLC more representatives than any other conference in the South Central Region.
The Nicholls distance program has seen drastic improvement recently. After setting eight school records in distance events during track season, the Colonels distance runners were bolstered by the additions of freshmen Brea and Dakota Goodman and Skyla Jackson, as well as the transfer of junior Jessica McLeod. The return of 2008 South Central Region qualifier Lauren Jones and Kadi Whisnant have given the Colonels one of the deeper programs in the region.
As happy as he is with the school's first ranking, however, Esche believes his team is capable of more. The Colonels will have their chance to prove him right when they return to action at the Mississippi State Invitational in Starkville, Miss. on Saturday.
"This weekend, when we face more of these regional program's head-to-head at Mississippi State's meet, we'll have a chance to improve those rankings," Esche said. "Our girls seem ready to go. They executed a workout last Friday that I didn't expect them to be able to execute as well as they did. We don't have a girl that can go out and win every meet, but our top four or five can counteract most schools. That kind of a pack is going to be a threat to a lot of schools in bigger meets, and that pack is going to get stronger as the season goes on."
USTFCCCA South Central Region Women's CC Rankings (Sept. 14)
1) Baylor
2) Rice
3) Arkansas
4) Southern Miss
5) Texas
6) Texas A&M
7) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi*
8) Texas Christian University
9) Stephen F. Austin*
10) Houston
11) Texas-San Antonio*
12) Texas State*
13) Arkansas State
14) Nicholls State*
15) Texas-Arlington*
*-Southland Conference School