Sept. 29, 2004

ROMEOVILLE - The Lewis University men's cross country team made sizable jumps in this week's Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division II national and regional rankings.

Lewis leaped nine spots to No. 11 in the national poll and moved up two places to No. 3 in the Great Lakes Region. The improvement was sparked by the Flyers' performance at last Saturday's Stegemoller Classic in Evansville, Ind., where they finished third and defeated five teams with a higher national ranking.

Adams State (Colo.) tops the national poll, followed in the top 10 by Western State (Colo.), California State-Chico, Harding (Ark.), Abilene Christian (Texas), Lock Haven (Pa.), Grand Valley State (Mich.), Massachusetts-Lowell, Minnesota State-Mankato and Hillsdale (Mich.).

Grand Valley State is No. 1 and Hillsdale is No. 2 in the Great Lakes Region. At No. 3, Lewis is the region's highest-ranked Great Lakes Valley Conference team.

The Flyers' next meet is the Illinois-Missouri Border Wars Oct. 9 in Edwardsville.