Oct. 11, 2012

NEW ORLEANS - For the third straight week, the East Carolina women's cross country program is ranked among the top 15 programs in the Southeast Region according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The program is ranked 14th in the polls following a sixth-place team finish at the Charlotte Invitational last time out in a field that included seven regionally-ranked schools among the 30 competitors in the gold race on Sept. 28.

"I'm proud and excited about the team being ranked in the region after starting the season unranked," said head cross country coach Dan Lee. "We graduated three of the all-time best distance runners this past spring and we were hoping to be competitive this fall with a much "less proven" group of women.  It's a great group that has really stepped up to the challenge and trained hard to live up to the legacy of work that last year's seniors left behind.  It's a great culture they've cultivated, past and present athletes."

The women's program have already won a pair of meets this season in the Seahawk Invitational and the ECU Pirate Invitational plus placed third at the Adidas Cross Country Invitational.

ECU is one of seven North Carolina-based schools that have secured spots in the regional rankings along with N.C. State, North Carolina, Duke, Appalachian State, Elon and Wake Forest.

The Pirates are also one of five Conference USA women's programs that have earned a ranking in the regional poll with SMU (third) and Rice (eighth) earning places in the South Central Region, Tulsa (11th) in the Midwest Region plus UTEP (11th) in the Mountain Region.  

The men's and women's programs compete again this weekend, Oct. 13, and head to Louisville, Ky. for 2012 NCAA Pre-Nationals.