Gopher Squads Drop in NCAA Poll

While it's nothing as precipitous as what's happening with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stock in the Gopher cross country teams dropped this week.

On the heels of last weekend's Pre-National Meet in Indiana, the Gopher women dropped from #4 to #7 in the NCAA Division I coaches poll, while the Minnesota men fell from #14 to #20.

The Gopher women finished 3rd in their division at Pre-Nationals; the Gopher men finished 5th in theirs.

The University of Washington tops the women's poll, followed by Oregon and Florida State. The Gopher women are the top Big Ten team in the poll but are followed closely by Michigan (#8), Michigan State (#9), and Illinois (#10).

Oregon leads the men's poll, followed by Garrett and Elliott Heath-powered Stanford, and Oklahoma State, where Minnesotans Ryan Little and Jon Stublaski compete. The Gopher men are the 4th-highest ranked Big Ten team in the poll.

The complete Division I polls can be found HERE.

Mead Earns Praise ... University of Minnesota sophomore Hassan Mead was named the Big Ten Conference Runner of the Week for his performance at Pre-Nationals. The Minneapolis South graduate finished third in his race and was the meet's highest-finishing Big Ten runner. Mead clocked a University of Minnesota 8K record of 23:33.

The honor is Mead’s second Big Ten weekly honor of the season. The Gopher standout claimed his first career award after his runner-up final at the Roy Griak Invitational in late September.