FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bates Skiing Ranked 13th Nationally

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates College Skiing team has been ranked 13th in the preseason NCAA poll. The poll is selected by national collegiate skiing coaches. Last season, the Bobcats qualified for nationals and finished 12th overall. They return 28 members from that team, including All-American junior Sean Clark.

"It is a good place to start, but we certainly hope that it is just a start," said Bates coach Ric Mackey.

"We will get better as the season progresses. It is always tough to tell rankings this early in the season, because no one is sure what other school's recruiting classes are like," Mackey said of the Bobcats' ranking.

1995 NCAA Pre-season Skiing Poll

Rank         Team                Points
  1          Colorado              45
  2          Vermont               40
  3          Utah                  39
  4          Denver                38
  5          Dartmouth             30
  6          Western State         29
  7          New Mexico            28
  8          Alaska-Anchorage      27
  9          Middlebury            19
 10          New Hampshire         18
 11          Northern Michigan     13
 12          Nevada                12
 13          Bates                  9
 14          Williams               7
 15          Alaska-Fairbanks       5