Week 2 - USTFCCCA Women's Cross Country Poll


GREENWOOD, Ind. – Great Midwest Athletic Conference schools Cedarville and Malone are both represented in the second United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Poll announced Wednesday.
 
From 25th to 14th and now 11th, the Cedarvile women’s cross country program continues to remain in the spotlight just outside the top 10 while the Pioneers of Malone made a splash and debuted at 15th after not being ranked previously.  
 
The Yellow Jackets improved their national ranking by virtue of a team title at the Cedarville-hosted Friendship Invitational on Saturday. Malone competed most recently at the Michigan State Invitational with a number of schools from the Midwest Region.
 
Cedarville’s team title also resulted in a bump up from fifth to fourth in the USTFCCCA Midwest Region rankings. Malone moved up to fifth in the Midwest Region ranking.
 
As a two-time G-MAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week, Cedarville senior Olivia Esbenshade has been the ringleader with a strong supporting cast to attribute to the team’s success. She has carved out the top times in both the 5K and 6K distances this season at the Friendship Invitational and the Queen City Invitational to begin the fall.
 
The Yellow Jackets were tied for 25th in the preseason poll with Tampa, moved to 14th last week and climbed three more spots in second official poll of the regular season.
 
Cedarville went 1-2-3 in the 26th annual Friendship Invitational with Esbenshade, senior Hailey Blackwell and sophomore Kayla Casaletto, leading the way. Also placing in the top 10 and sixth and seventh, respectively, was Olivia Kundo and Alaina Spears.
 
The overall team time of 1:33.00 ranks second-best in conference history. Cedarville owns nine of the G-MAC’s top 10 team times in the 5K distance since 2012.
 
Also, the Yellow Jackets have been ascending up the national ladder without the services of junior Carsyn Koch, who owns the conference’s best 5K time and one of the top five best 6K times.
 
Malone junior Hannah Campbell was the G-MAC Athlete of the Week for the second week of the season while five of her teammates (Hannah Campbell, Jade Smith, Erin Moomaw, Rachel Wentworth, Laura Tweedie) finished less than a minute apart from each other in East Lansing.
 
In the team scoring, Malone beat Northern Michigan, previously ranked ninth in the first national poll.
 
Incoming G-MAC member institution Hillsdale is currently ranked seventh nationally in the USTFCCCA National Poll.