BlackBerry - CIS Top Ten Tuesday (#5): Guelph men, Mac women top first x-country rankings

Photo credit Guelph Athletics

OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of Guelph men and McMaster University women top the first CIS cross-country running rankings of the season.

In other sports, Lethbridge (women’s rugby) and Laval (men’s soccer) maintain their No. 1 rankings, while the Alberta Pandas leapfrog Trinity Western in the women’s soccer poll following a 3-2 win over the two-time defending national champion Spartans.

In men’s cross country, Guelph (88.6 points) opens at No. 1 in front of OUA rivals Windsor (87.1) and Western (61.4). The Gryphons are four-time defending CIS champions and have been crowned eight times over the past 11 years.  

On the women’s side, McMaster (89.2 points) edges Guelph (86.9) in the inaugural rankings after claiming the team title last Saturday at the Western International thanks to a four-point lead over the Gryphons. Guelph claimed its CIS-record fifth straight national banner last fall.

In women’s soccer, the Pandas (6-0-0) move up three positions to No. 1 following a pair of Top-10 road victories, 2-0 over No. 7 UBC (4-1-1) last Friday and 3-2 over Trinity Western (5-1-0) on Saturday, on a 90th-minute goal by Heather Lund. Alberta remains on the road this weekend for contests against Regina (2-3-1) and Manitoba (0-3-3).

The Spartans, who had opened the weekend with a 4-0 shutout of Saskatchewan, fall to No. 4 following their first loss of the season. TWU had led the first four coaches’ poll of the campaign.

In men’s soccer, reigning CIS champion Laval (6-0-0) continued to roll with a 5-0 shutout of Concordia (0-5-0) and a 5-1 win at Sherbrooke (1-4-0). The No. 1 Rouge et Or visits UQTR (2-1-2) on Sunday for its lone match-up of the coming weekend.

In women’s rugby, three-time defending CIS champion Lethbridge (2-0-0) kicked off Canada West conference play with a 63-0 blanking of Victoria and a 48-7 domination of No. 10 UBC (0-1). The top-ranked Pronghorns now have to wait until Oct. 15 to get back on the field against Calgary.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. McMaster 89.2 pts / (-)
2. Guelph 86.9 / (-)
3. Western Ontario 55.4 / (-)
4. McGill 41.5 / (-)
5. Victoria 37.7 / (-)
6. Queen’s 35.4 / (-)
7. Alberta 32.3 / (-)
8. Calgary 23.8 / (-)
9. Dalhousie 20.8 / (-)
10. Saskatchewan 20.0 / (-)

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous rankings)

1. Guelph 88.6 pts / (-)
2. Windsor 87.1 / (-)
3. Western Ontario 61.4 / (-)
4. Victoria 38.6 / (-)
5. McMaster 36.4 / (-)
6. Toronto 35.7 / (-)
7. Calgary 29.3 / (-)
8. Queen’s 25.7 / (-)
9. Regina 23.6 / (-)
10. Alberta 22.9 / (-)

WOMEN’S RUGBY
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Lethbridge (2-0) / 135 pts / (1)
2. Guelph (3-0) / 124 / (2)
3. StFX (3-0) / 99 / (3)
4. Concordia (3-0) / 96 / (4)
5. Alberta (1-0) / 69 / (6)
6. Laval (2-1) / 67 / (5)
7. Queen’s (3-0) / 56 / (8)
8. McMaster (2-1) / 35 / (7)
9. Waterloo (2-1) / 22 / (10)
10. UBC (0-1) / 14 / (9)

Other teams receiving votes: Ottawa (7), Acadia (3), McGill (1).

WOMEN’S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Alberta (6-0-0) / 48 pts / (4)
2. McGill (5-0-1) / 46 / (2)
3. Wilfrid Laurier (7-0-1) / 39 / (3)
4. Trinity Western (5-1-0) / 37 / (1)
5. Queen’s (7-1-0) / 28 / (7)
6. Montreal (4-1-1) / 24 / (6)
7. UBC (4-1-1) / 21 / (5)
8. Ottawa (5-1-1) / 12 / (9)
9. Dalhousie (4-0-2) / 10 / (NR)
10. Laval (4-1-1) / 7 / (8)

Other teams receiving votes: UPEI.

MEN’S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Laval (6-0-0) / 60 pts / (1)
2. Western Ontario (8-0-1) / 51 / (3)
3. StFX (6-0-0) / 46 / (8)
4. Alberta (5-1-0) / 38 / (9)
5. UBC (4-1-0) / 34 / (2)
6. Carleton (5-0-0) / 31 / (10)
7. Toronto (4-1-2) / 25 / (4)
8. Saint Mary’s (5-1-1) / 24 / (5)
9. Montreal (3-1-1) / 7 / (NR)
10. Trinity Western (3-1-2) / 6 / (7)

-CIS-