Nov. 5, 2004

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In the latest FinishLynx National Poll, the Providence College women's cross country team received 373 points and maintained its No. 2 ranking for the seventh consecutive week.

Providence competed on Friday, October 29 at the BIG EAST Championships and scored 49 points to capture the event for the fourth time in school history and the first time since 1997.

Senior Kim Smith (Auckland, New Zealand) became only the fifth athlete to win multiple BIG EAST titles as she won the race in a time of 19:23. Her time was a BIG EAST Conference record by one minute and it also was the second fastest time ever run on the 6K course at Franklin Park. Providence had three runners finish in the top four. In addition to Smith, senior Mary Cullen (Sligo, Ireland) took second-place (20:10), while junior Fiona Crombie (Christchurch, New Zealand) placed fourth (20:11). Rouding out the scorers for Providence were senior Deirdre Byrne of Wicklow, Ireland (15th-21:09) and junior Jane Nalder of Wellington, New Zealand (20th- 21:26).

Providence will compete at the NCAA Northeast Regionals on Saturday, November 13 at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. The Friars will aim to qualify for the NCAA's for the 16th consecutive season.

FinishLynx NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S NCAA CROSS COUNTRY POLL
November 2, 2004
Rank    Team (First place votes)        Points
1       Stanford (13)                   390
2       PROVIDENCE                      373
3       Colorado                        366
4       Michigan                        348
5       Duke                            338
6       Notre Dame                      327
7       Arizona State                   308
8       North Carolina                  303
9       Missouri                        283
10      North Carolina State            256
11      Brigham Young                   252
12      Southern Methodist              234
13      Michigan State                  227
14      Villanova                       216
15      Tennessee                       219
16      Illinois                        187
17      UC Santa Barbara                180
18      Arkansas                        167
19      Columbia                        156
20      Princeton                       137
21      Wake Forest                     127
22      Georgia                         116
23      Colorado State                  92
24      Georgetown                      76
25      Washington                      60