Spartans Head to Postseason as Nation’s No. 13 Team
NEW ORLEANS - With the 2012 regular season complete, the University of Tampa women's cross country team remains No. 13 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll.
The Spartans opened the season at No. 15, and then spent two weeks at No. 12 before occupying the 13th-spot for the past two weeks.
UT has victories at the UT Early Bird Classic, USF Open and Jim Ryun Invitational. Tampa also finished fourth in a highly competitive UF Mountain Dew Invitational that featured predominantly NCAA Division I opponents.
Head coach Jarrett Slaven's squad closed the regular season with second-place finishes at both the Saint Leo and Florida State Invites, finishing behind Florida and Florida State respectively. At SLU and FSU, the Spartans outran a total of six NCAA Division I opponents.
Tampa's women have now been nationally-ranked for 63 consecutive weeks, a span dating back to the 2006 season.
Slaven's team also appears at No. 1 in the NCAA South Region, with his men coming in at No. 6.
USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning team strength with current-season results in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.
UT now turns its focus to the 2012 Sunshine State Conference Championships, which will take place on Saturday in Orlando, Fla.