BATES MEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY RANKED 21ST NATIONALLY IN PRESEASON POLL
 

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates College men's cross country team, who finished one spot out of qualifying for the NCAA Championships last year, has been ranked 21st in the nation in an NCAA coaches' preseason poll.

Coach Al Fereshetian was named the Division III New England region Coach of the Year in 1997, when the Bobcats finished the year ranked 25th nationally. Bates captured the Division III title at the prestigious Codfish Bowl meet at Franklin Park in Boston, the site of the 1997 NCAA Championships on Nov. 22. Bates finished tied for third at the regional qualifying meet.
 
Five of the Bobcats' top seven runners return this season, including senior co-captain Justin Freeman (Franklin, N.H.), a three-time All-New England finisher; sophomore Matt Twiest (Albuquerque, N.M.), the top first year finisher at last year's NCAAs; and Michael Danahy (South Windsor, Conn.), the team's third All-New England team member.

You can follow the Weekly Cross-country polls on the Web at the following URL:
http://www.bates.edu/~afereshe/NEXCHP.html

Rank School              Votes
 1.  Wisc.-LaCrosse (4)  124
 2.  Mt. Union (1)       117
 3.  North Central       115
 4.  Wisc.-Stevens Point 111
 5.  Williams            107
 6.  Wisc.-Whitewater     98
 7.  Wisc.-Oshkosh        87
 8.  Tufts                83
 9.  Haverford            73
10.  Wabash               71
11.  St. John's, Minn.    68
12.  Rochester            65
13.  Brandeis             61
14.  RIT                  53
15.  Calvin               49
16.  UC-San Diego         44
17.  Loras                42
18.  Augustana, Ill.      38
19.  Keene State          30
19.  Ithaca               30
21. Bates             28
22.  St. Thomas           20
23.  Washington, Mo.      19
24.  Carnegie-Mellon      18
25.  St. Lawrence         17