Western Washington moves up in USTFCCCA D2 national poll...

NEW ORLEANS--Western Washington's wins at their own Bill Roe Classic in Ferndale on Saturday cemented their stay in the USTFCCCA Division II national rankings that were released Wednesday.

The Vikings, led by Mia Crocker (Paul Merca photo), who finished fourth behind three post-collegians, moved up one spot in the national rankings to number 19.

The top five teams, according to the national voters, are in order: Adams State, Grand Valley State, Colorado School of Mines, Augustana (South Dakota), and UC-Colorado Springs.

Simon Fraser, who was ranked number 9 in the previous week's poll, plummeted 19 spots to number 28 after their second place finish at the Bill Roe Classic, losing to the Vikings by a 53-72 count, in which Western Washington placed all five scorers in the top 16.

The Viking men's squad advanced five spots in the national poll to number 24 after winning the Bill Roe Classic by a 43-50 score over second place Simon Fraser.

The top five teams in Division II according to the voters, are in order: Adams State, Colorado School of Mines, Grand Valley State, Chico State, and Augustana (South Dakota).

As is the case in the women's poll, Simon Fraser is the only other school from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference ranked in the national top 30, coming in at number 29.

Western Washington is slated to run at the John Payne/Curtis Invitational Saturday at Chambers Creek Park in University Place, where they will be joined by Saint Martin's. This will be their first view of the course that will host the NCAA Division II championships on December 2nd.

The USTFCCCA national rankings for this week are available here.

NOTE: The sports information office of Western Washington University, and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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