Sept. 20, 2016
The Vanderbilt women’s cross country team is climbing the ladder — two steps at a time.
For the second week in a row, the Commodores moved up two spots in the USTFCCCA’s coaches poll, and this time, they landed inside the Top-25, checking in at No. 24.
l Complete rankings: HERE
l Full Release from the USTFCCCA: HERE
Vanderbilt was ranked No. 28 in the preseason poll, and came in at No. 26 in the first regular-season rankings of the year, which were released last week.
The Vanderbilt women, who are the two-time NCAA South Region champs, had a strong showing this past weekend at the Commodore Classic, earning a third-place finish among a talent-rich 25-team field. The event — which was Vanderbilt’s only home meet of the season — was held on a stormy day at Percy Warner Park, and the women’s race was delayed by almost an hour due to lightning in the area.
But the Commodores didn’t let the unusual circumstances prevent them from delivering a solid performance, placing five runners among the Top-45 in the crowded field that featured more than 260 runners.
Sophomore Sara Tsai led the way for Vanderbilt, finishing fifth overall with a personal-record time of 17:08.6. Maddie Criscione was the second Commodore across the line, finishing 19th at 17:38.2. She was followed by Reagan Anderson in 27th at 17:45.4, Megan Huebner in 28th at 17:48.3 and Devon Grisbaum in 45th at 18:01.2.
The Vanderbilt women and men have an open date this weekend before traveling to South Bend, Ind., on Sept. 30 for the Notre Dame Invitational.
