GRYPHONS LEAD CIS TOP 10 CROSS-COUNTRY POLL
Other Top-10 leaders this week include the Trinity Western Spartans, who dominate both soccer polls for the second straight week, and the Lethbridge Pronghorns, who were once again voted No. 1 in women's rugby.
In women's hockey, the Martlets open at No. 1 for the second straight year, seven months after capturing their second consecutive CIS banner thanks to a 3-1 win over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. McGill led all 17 national rankings last season, as well as the last 12 polls of the 2007-08 campaign.
The Martlets, who kept a 3-1 pre-season record against NCAA competition, kick off conference play Friday night with a home tilt against cross-town rival Concordia.
The regular schedule also gets under way this weekend out West and in Ontario, while AUS teams join the action on Oct. 16.
Rounding out the inaugural women's hockey Top 10 are No. 2-Wilfrid Laurier, No. 3-Manitoba, No. 4-Moncton, No. 5-Alberta, No. 6-StFX, No. 7-Guelph, No. 8-York, No. 9-Toronto and No. 10-Saskatchewan.
In cross-country, the Gryphons, who swept the CIS banners for a record third straight year last November, received 100 points in both computer-generated rankings to open at No. 1 ahead of McMaster and Calgary on the women's side, and Windsor and Calgary in the men's standings.
In women's soccer, Trinity Western (6-0) leads the way for the sixth time in as many polls this fall, with the Montreal Carabins (8-0) following at No. 2 for the sixth straight week.
The reigning national champion Spartans, who beat Regina 3-0 and Manitoba 2-1 last week, are in tough this weekend as they host No. 4-Victoria (5-1-1) Friday night and Fraser Valley (4-2-1) Saturday.
Also of note in the new poll, four teams make their way into the Top 10, Queen's at No. 7, Cape Breton at No. 8, Dalhousie at No. 9 and McGill at No. 10.
In men's soccer, TWU (5-0-2) and Montreal (5-1-1) are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, for the second consecutive week.
The Spartans, who remained undefeated last week with a 2-1 victory over arch-rival UBC, host No. 5-Victoria (5-2-1) Friday and Fraser Valley (2-6) Saturday.
In women's rugby, the two-time reigning CIS champion Pronghorns (3-0) lead the Top 10 for the fifth time in five weeks after they dominated Victoria 79-0 and No. 10-UBC 50-0.
Lethbridge, which has outscored its opponents 195-0 in three conference outings, has the weekend off before returning to the field against No. 5-Alberta (2-0) on Oct. 18.
StFX (4-0), Guelph (4-0) and Laval (4-0) follow in order for the fifth consecutive week in the coaches poll.
WOMEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (previous rankings)
1. McGill (0-0) / (-)
2. Wilfrid Laurier (0-0) / (-)
3. Manitoba (0-0) / (-)
4. Moncton (0-0) / (-)
5. Alberta (0-0) / (-)
6. StFX (0-0) / (-)
7. Guelph (0-0) / (-)
8. York (0-0) / (-)
9. Toronto (0-0) / (-)
10. Saskatchewan (0-0) / (-)
Other teams receiving votes: St. Thomas, Carleton.
WOMEN'S cross-country
(votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph (100,0 points) / (-)
2. McMaster (67,8) / (-)
3. Calgary (61,1) / (-)
4. Toronto (57,8) / (-)
5. StFX (52,2) / (-)
6. Western Ontario (43,3) / (-)
7. Victoria (38,9) / (-)
T8. Manitoba (27,8) / (-)
T8. Laval (27,8) / (-)
10. Windsor (22,2) / (-)
MEN'S cross-country
(votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph (100,0 points) / (-)
2. Windsor (80,0) / (-)
3. Calgary (57,8) / (-)
4. Victoria (50,0) / (-)
5. StFX (47,8) / (-)
6. Western Ontario (44,4) / (-)
7. Regina (42,2) / (-)
8. Queen's (27,8) / (-)
9. Toronto (24,4) / (-)
10. Alberta (23,3) / (-)
WOMEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Trinity Western (6-0-0) / 50 points / (1)
2. Montreal (8-0-0) / 46 / (2)
3. Ottawa (8-1-2) / 35 / (3)
4. Victoria (5-1-1) / 34 / (5)
5. Wilfrid Laurier (6-1-1) / 29 / (4)
6. Toronto (7-0-2) / 26 / (T8)
7. Queen's (8-1-1) / 13 / (NR)
8. Cape Breton (5-1-2) / 9 / (4)
9. Dalhousie (5-0-2) / 8 / (10)
10. McGill (6-2-0) / 7 / (NR)
Others teams receiving votes: Manitoba, Sherbrooke, Brock.
MEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / points / (previous rankings)
1. Trinity Western (5-0-2) / 60 points / (1)
2. Montreal (5-1-1) / 54 / (2)
3. Dalhousie (6-0-1) / 46 / (4)
4. York (4-2-2) / 38 / (5)
T5. Alberta (5-1-2) / 34 / (3)
T5. Victoria (5-2-1) / 34 / (6)
7. Toronto (6-1-2) / 23 / (9)
8. Guelph (5-2-1) / 17 / (7)
9. UPEI (5-2-0) / 9 / (10)
10. UNB (3-2-3) / 3 / (9)
Other teams receiving votes: UQAM, Cape Breton, Windsor, Laurentian, Queen's, UBC.
WOMEN'S RUGBY
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Lethbridge (3-0) / 143 points / (1)
2. StFX (4-0) / 111 / (2)
3. Guelph (4-0) / 108 / (3)
4. Laval (4-0) / 92 / (4)
5. Alberta (2-0) / 63 / (5)
6. McMaster (3-1) / 59 / (6)
7. Concordia (3-1) / 55 / (7)
8. Western Ontario (3-1) / 33 / (8)
9. Waterloo (3-1) / 31 / (NR)
10. UBC (1-2) / 28 / (10)
Other teams receiving votes: Queen's (15), Ottawa (5), Brock (3), Saint Mary's (3).
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.universitysport.ca.
Source: CIS Communications