FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

USTFCCCA Division III Top 35 Poll

Sept. 1, 2010 - The North Central College men's cross country team will open defense of its 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship as the No. 2-ranked Division III team in the nation, according to the initial 2010 rankings released by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Cardinals received three of the eight first-place votes and tallied 267 points in the poll, ranking behind only Washington University (Mo.) The Bears, who placed seventh at last year's national meet, received four first-place votes and 271 points.

Allegheny College (Pa.) received one first place vote and is ranked third, while Haverford College (Pa.) and New York University round out the top five. North Central is the only College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin team to be ranked in the top 35, though Wheaton College and Augustana College both received votes.

North Central returns two All-Americans, national runner-up Michael Spain and 19th-place finisher Neal Klein, from the 2009 squad that dominated the field en route to the Cardinals' 13th national championship in the sport, tallying 50 points and posting the largest victory margin (131 points) in NCAA history. The victory was the first in a sweep of the Division III cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field national championships during the 2009-2010 academic year, making North Central just the second Division III institution to do so.

The Cardinals' 2010 season begins Friday at the Elmhurst College Earlybird Invitational, held at Eldridge Park in Elmhurst. The 6,000-meter men's race is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m.