U SPORTS Top 10: Cross Country Queens: Gaels top first national poll in 14 years

TORONTO (U SPORTS) – The Queen's Gaels (women) and defending champion Laval Rouge et Or (men) are the top-ranked teams in the nation to begin the U SPORTS cross country season.

For Queen's, it's the first No.1 ranking since 2003, when they claimed the pole position in the initial three weeks of the season (Sept. 17, 24 and Oct.1, 2003). Last fall, the Gaels earned the team silver medal at the U SPORTS national race, with 2017 BLG Award nominee Claire Sumner winning the individual gold medal. Sumner led the Gaels again on Saturday, defending her title on home course at the Queen's invitational in a time of 28:45.75. The Gaels head to London, Ont. for the Western Invitational this Saturday.

On the men's side, the Rouge et Or are the team to beat after winning the first national banner in program history last fall on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. Danny Racine crossed the line second in 19:45 on Saturday, as Laval finished as the top U SPORTS school at the McGill Open. Up next, they will compete at Sherbrooke's Vert & Or Invitational on Saturday.

In women's soccer, No.10 MacEwan (4-0-0) is ranked for the first time in program history since the Griffins began competing in U SPORTS in 2014. Laval (4-0-0) maintains its position at No.1 alongside Alberta (men's soccer) and StFX (women's rugby) for another week.

U SPORTS TOP 10 Tuesday Rankings – Sept. 19, 2017

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

Points / (Previous Ranking)

1. Laval                      97 pts / (-)

2. Guelph                  84pts / (-)

3. Trinity Western       72 pts / (-)

4. Western                  59 pts / (-)

5. McMaster               48 pts / (-)

6. Queen's                  42 pts / (-)

7. Calgary                  30 pts / (-)

8. Victoria                   29 pts / (-)

9. Windsor                  25 pts / (-)

10. McGill                   17 pts / (-)

Other team receiving votes: StFX (13), Dalhousie (9), Regina (8), Sherbrooke (5), Toronto (5), Manitoba (3), Montreal (3), Alberta (2), Ottawa (1), UNB (1)

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

Points / (Previous Ranking)

1. Queen's                  93 pts / (-)

2. Guelph                   89 pts / (-)

3. Trinity Western       66 pts / (-)

4. Toronto                   62 pts / (-)

5. Laval                     38 pts / (-)

6. McGill                     37 pts / (-)

7. Western                  33 pts / (-)

8. Victoria                   31 pts / (-)

9. McMaster               21 pts / (-)

10. Calgary               19 pts / (-)

Other team receiving votes: Dalhousie (14), StFX (11), Alberta (11), Saskatchewan (10), Sherbrooke (9), Acadia (3), Ottawa (3), Manitoba (2), Montreal (2), Laurentian (1)

WOMEN'S RUGBY

(Regular Season Record) / Points / (Previous Ranking)

1. StFX           (2-0) / 184 pts / (1)

2. Laval          (3-0) / 146 pts / (2)

3. Guelph       (2-0) / 124 pts / (3)

4. Calgary      (0-0) / 111 pts / (4)

5. Ottawa       (2-1) / 98 pts / (5)

6. McMaster   (2-0) / 81 pts / (6)

7. Queen's      (2-1) / 69 pts / (7)

8. Victoria       (1-0) / 65 pts / (9)

9. Concordia  (2-1) / 45 pts / (8)

10. Acadia      (2-0) / 17 pts / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: Brock (8), UBC (2), Lethbridge (1), Western (1)

MEN'S SOCCER

(Regular Season Record / Points / (Previous Ranking)

1. Alberta       (5-0-1) / 60 pts / (1)

2. UBC            (5-0-1) / 52 pts / (2)

3. Montreal     (4-0-0) / 45 pts / (4)

4. Ryerson     (7-0-1) / 44 pts / (7)

5. Guelph      (6-1-1) / 33 pts / (5)

6. Toronto       (6-0-2) / 29 pts / (3)

7. StFX          (4-0-0) / 28 pts / (10)

8. Cape Breton (2-0-1) / 18 pts / (6)

9. UQAM        (2-1-0) / 8 pts / (8)

10. Western    (5-0-2) 8 pts / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Laval (7), Dalhousie (1)

WOMEN'S SOCCER

(Regular Season Record / Points / (Previous Ranking)

1. Laval          (4-0-0) / 60 pts / (1)

2. UOIT          (7-0-0) / 53 pts / (2)

3. UBC           (4-1-0) / 49 pts / (3)

4. Ottawa       (5-1-1) / 40 pts / (4)

5. Western      (6-1-0) / 25 pts / (NR)

6. Montreal     (2-0-2) / 24 pts / (6)

7. Memorial     (4-0-0) / 21 pts / (9)

8. Queen's      (4-1-1) / 18 pts / (5)

9. Cape Breton (3-0-0) / 17 pts / (8)

10. MacEwan (4-0-0) / 13 pts / (NR)

Other teams receiving votes: Saskatchewan (4) Alberta (3) Trinity Western (3)