Lady Cardinals Ranked No. 17 in Preseason USTFCCCA Poll

NEW ORLEANS – The Saginaw Valley State University women's cross country team was selected No. 17 in the preseason national cross country rankings have been released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for the 2012 NCAA Division II season.

The Lady Cardinals are coming off the most successful season in program history and will look to build on that success in 2012. Adams State's men and Augustana (S.D.)'s women will begin the year as the No. 1 teams in the land according to association's ranking committee. Augustana is the national defending women's champ while men's defending champ Western State starts the year at No. 2 in the rankings.

For the first time in national rankings history, 35 teams are ranked. Going into effect this fall, the NCAA has increased the number of teams that will participate at the Division II cross country national championships from 24 to 32.

1	Augustana (S.D.)	Central	NSIC	Tracy Hellman (12th)	1
2	Adams State	South Central	RMAC	Damon Martin (25th)	4
3	Grand Valley State	Midwest	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (14th)	3
4	U-Mary	Central	NSIC	Dennis Newell (7th)	5
5	Western State	South Central	RMAC	Jennifer Michel (6th)	2
6	Alaska Anchorage	West	GNAC	Michael Friess (23rd)	6
7	Ferris State	Midwest	GLIAC	Steve Picucci (5th)	8
8	Chico State	West	CCAA	Gary Towne (17th)	7
9	Simon Fraser	West	GNAC	Brit Townsend	NR
10	Shippensburg	Atlantic	PSAC	Steve Spence (15th)	9
11	Midwestern State	South Central	Lone Star	Koby Styles (6th)	11
12	Pittsburg State	Central	MIAA	Russ Jewett (27th)	15
13	Western Washington	West	GNAC	Pee Wee Halsell (26th)	12
14	Bloomsburg	Atlantic	PSAC	Bernie Empie (4th)	14
15	Tampa	South	Sunshine	Jarrett Slaven (14th)	16
16	Ashland	Midwest	GLIAC	Trent Mack (3rd)	18
17	Saginaw Valley State	Midwest	GLIAC	Rod Cowan (3rd)	13
18	Minnesota Duluth	Central	NSIC	Joanna Warmington (3rd)	21
19	Edinboro	Atlantic	PSAC	Doug Watts (44th)	NR
20	Cal Poly Pomona	West	CCAA	Octavious Gillespie-Bennett (1st)	NR
21	Slippery Rock	Atlantic	PSAC	John Papa (26th)	NR
22	Northwest Missouri	Central	MIAA	Scott Lorek (9th)	NR
23	Stonehill	East	Northeast-10	Karen Boen (15th)	19
24	Mansfield	Atlantic	PSAC	Mike Rohl (10th)	NR
25	Missouri Southern	Central	MIAA	Patty Vavra (19th)	NR
26	Southern Indiana	Midwest	GLVC	Mike Hillyard (16th)	NR
27	Hillsdale	Midwest	GLIAC	Andrew Towne (2nd)	NR
28	Lock Haven	Atlantic	PSAC	Aaron Russell (15th)	20
29	Regis (Colo.)	South Central	RMAC	John Esquibel (7th)	NR
30	Seattle Pacific	West	GNAC	Erika Daligcon (4th)	NR
31	Nova Southeastern	South	Sunshine	Bryan Hagopian (4th)	NR
32	UW-Parkside	Midwest	GLVC	Micah VanDenend (3rd)	NR
33	Bentley	East	Northeast-10	Kevin Curtin (2nd)	22
34	Colorado Mines	South Central	RMAC	Art Siemers (11th)	NR
35	American International	East	Northeast-10	Leo Mayo (7th)	NR

The Cardinals will open their 2012 season at Central Michigan University today (Aug. 31).

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