Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Cracks Top-25 Poll to Open Season
10/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 17, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Coming off a 19th-place finish at last year's NCAA Championships, Northwestern will begin the 2008-09 season as a member of the nation's top-25 after earning the No. 22 spot in the first College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) dual meet poll of the year.
The Wildcats received 64 points in the initial rankings of the season, coming in one spot ahead of Big Ten foe Wisconsin. Northwestern spent the entirety of 2007-08 knocking on the door of the top-25 after compiling a 6-4 record in dual meets, with every loss coming to a ranked opponent.
Northwestern had big results last season at the Big Ten Championships, finishing fifth and winning both the Coach of the Year award for Jimmy Tierney and the Swimmer of the Championships nod for 2008 graduate Andrea Hupman. The Wildcats then went on to post their best finish at the NCAA meet since taking sixth in 2000. The CSCAA rankings, however, are based solely on dual-meet performance.
Northwestern kicks off the 2008-09 schedule at 2 p.m. CT Friday, Oct. 24, with a meet at No. 8 Indiana.
To view the complete CSCAA preseason dual-meet coaches poll, link to Swimmingworldmagazine.com.
To check out NU's 2008-09 Team Photo, click here.
