Ryan Sorenson (left) and Dennis McCaffrey (right) have helped the SOU men to a No. 1 ranking.
10/28/2009 3:21:56 PM
The Southern Oregon men’s cross country team has taken over the No. 1 ranking in this week’s NAIA Top 25 Poll.
The Raiders replaced two-time defending National Champion Malone (Ohio) for the top spot.
“I’m kinda shocked and surprised,” SOU second-year head coach Brent Ericksen said. “But it’s a great honor, you always want to be considered the best in your sport. Now we need to go out and earn the honor and the only way to do that is at Nationals.”
Southern Oregon received nine first place votes and 580 total votes to move up from No. 2 in the rankings. Malone received 12 first place votes and 576 total votes as they dropped out of the top spot for the first time in 29 polls.
“Malone is a very good team and a great program,” Ericksen said. “There are a lot of teams out there ready to jump on us.”
The No. 1 ranking is the highest in program history and the men’s cross country team now sits with SOU’s wrestling, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as having a No. 1 ranking during the program’s history.
Southern Oregon continued its undefeated season last weekend by winning the Oregon State Beaver Classic.
The SOU women’s team also jumped back into the “receiving votes” category, coming away with 16 votes this week.
The Raiders return to action next Saturday (Nov. 7) when they take part in the Cascade Conference Championships in Springfield. The NAIA National Championships are set for Nov. 21.
The Southern Oregon athletic department now has five teams ranked in the NAIA Polls. Both the men’s cross country team and the wrestling team have No. 1 rankings. The SOU volleyball team is ranked 12th, the women’s basketball team is ranked 18th and the women’s cross country team is receiving votes.