Nov. 17, 2003

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Providence College women's cross country team (305 points) held on to the No. 8 spot in the latest FinishLynx Division I Women's Cross Country Poll, which was released on November 17. Providence is coming off a first-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship on November 15.

Providence won its third NCAA Northeast Regional Championship on the strength of juniors Kimberly Smith (Auckland, New Zealand) and Mary Cullen (Sligo, Ireland), who finished first and second, respectively for the third consecutive meet. Smith won the individual title and became the first PC runner to win the regional crown since Heather Cappello did it in 1999.

Brigham Young (386 points) climbed to the top spot ahead of Stanford (380 points), which moved to No. 2. North Carolina (360 points), Notre Dame (349 points) and North Carolina State (330 points) round out the top five.

The Friars will conclude the 2003 season on Monday, November 24 at the NCAA Championship in Waterloo, Iowa. The race will begin at 1:15 p.m. EST.

FinishLynx NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S NCAA CROSS COUNTRY POLL
November 17, 2003
Rank	Team (First place votes)         Points
1	Brigham Young (9)                386
2	Stanford (4)                     380
3	North Carolina                   360
4	Notre Dame                       349
5	North Carolina State             330
6	Michigan                         317
7	Colorado                         314
8	PROVIDENCE                       305
9	Columbia                         279
10	Georgetown                       274
11	UCLA                             254
12	Michigan State                   248
13	Wake Forest                      242
14	Princeton                        230
15	Villanova                        189
16	Colorado State                   181
17	Northern Arizona                 170
18	Penn State                       156
19	Nebraska                         150
20	Missouri                         122
21	Texas                            114
22	Washington                       110
23	Arizona State                    91
24	Indiana                          80
25	Baylor                           76
26	Tennessee                        68
27	Duke                             61
28	Marquette                        53
29	Dartmouth                        33
30	Florida State                    30