Gold Nuggets earn 11 points, tie for 34th in national poll



Xavier University of Louisiana's 2012 women's cross country team

ROSTER
HEAD COACH: Joseph Moses



NEW ORLEANS — The off-again, on-again support continues for Xavier University of Louisiana in the NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 poll.
    

The Gold Nuggets did not collect a vote this past week, but they received 11 points in the newest poll announced Wednesday. They're tied for 34th place with the same ranking and votes as two weeks ago. It's Xavier's best national ranking since the 2008 preseason.
    

For the season, the XU women have received votes in the second, fourth and sixth polls — but none in the first, third and fifth.
    
Xavier made another legitimate claim for votes Friday when it earned its second victory of the season. The Gold Nuggets won the non-NCAA Division I scoring of the Mississippi College/Watson Ford Invitational at Clinton, Miss. It's the first time since 2008 that the Nuggets won two regular-season meets.
    
Both Xavier teams are idle this week, but the Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush will return to Clinton on Oct. 20 for the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships. Both teams seek a seventh consecutive league title. And XU sophomore siblings Kwame and Zahri Jackson are the defending individual champions.
    
Three-time defending national champion Cal State San Marcos is No. 1 in the poll for the second consecutive week and the fourth time this season.

NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll(first-place votes in parentheses) Rank Team Points Last 1 Cal State San Marcos (19) 650 1 2 British Columbia 624 2 3-tie College of Idaho (4) 606 4 3-tie Olivet Nazarene 606 3 5 Biola 570 5 6 Carroll (Mont.) 545 6 7 Northwest Christian 517 7 8 Westmont 505 8 9 Cornerstone 463 tie-14 10 Dordt 446 13 11 Lewis-Clark State 434 11 12 Oklahoma Baptist 419 16 13 The Master's 418 12 14 Aquinas 395 9 15 Rocky Mountain 369 tie-14 16 Concordia (Calif.) 348 10 17 Illinois Tech 313 17 18-tie Doane 262 RV 18-tie Milligan 262 18 20 St. Francis (Ill.) 244 22 21 Southern Oregon 237 19 22 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 214 21 23 Concordia (Neb.) 197 19 24 Taylor 191 23 25 Huntington (Ind.) 142 24 Others receiving votes: Eastern Oregon 121, Shawnee State 62, Indiana Wesleyan 59, Baker 47, Saint Xavier 43, Texas Wesleyan 39, Oregon Tech 32, Trinity Christian 18, Xavier 11, Spring Arbor 11, Rogers State 4, Central Methodist 3, Brenau 3.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

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