RICHMOND, Va. – Both McKendree University swimming & diving programs appear in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Division II Top 25 polls that were released by the CSCAA on Thursday.
In this year's second regular season poll, the Bearcat men's program jumped two spots from seventh to fifth, while the women's program jumped five spots to reach its highest ranking in program history at No. 14 nationally. The rankings are voted on by CSCAA-member coaches and select media. The committee consists of six representatives from Division II schools and two media members. The next poll is scheduled to be released on Jan. 19.
McKendree's men's team was ranked fourth in the preseason poll, while the McKendree women's team was ranked 24th in the preseason poll that was released on Oct. 21, before being ranked seventh and 19th respectively in the second poll that was released on Nov. 11.
In the new poll, the Bearcats, who are 7-1 on the season with its only dual meet loss coming at No. 1 ranked University of Indianapolis, earned 128 points to sit 12 points in front of both Grand Valley State (116 points) and Florida Southern (116 points), who are tied for sixth and is two points behind No. 4 Colorado Mesa (130 points). UIndy continues to lead the men's rankings, while Queens is second and Drury is ranked third.
The Great Lakes Conference continues to be well-represented in the men's rankings as the league has seven teams ranked as the ranked GLVC teams include UIndy, Drury, McKendree, Lindenwood at No. 10, Missouri S&T at No. 14, Lewis is at No. 23 and UMSL is at No. 24.
Meanwhile, in the new women's poll, the Bearcat women jumped five spots to No. 14 to achieve the highest national ranking in the program's history. The Bearcats received 63 points to be three points in front of both Rollins (60 points) and Florida Southern (60 points), who are tied for 15th and is five points behind No. 13 Lindenwood (68 points).
Much like the men's side of the poll, the GLVC is also well represented in the women's poll as five schools are ranked in the Top 25 and one schools is receiving votes. The ranked teams are UIndy, who is tied for No. 1 in the poll with Queens, while Drury is No. 3, Lindenwood is No. 13 and Trurman State is at No. 22. UMSL is just outside the Top 25 as they earned one vote and is one of 10 schools earning votes in the latest poll.
The Bearcat men and women, who last competed on Nov. 18-20 at the Purdue Boilermaker Invitational, will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 8 as they host NCAA Division III power Washington University in St. Louis for a 12 p.m. dual meet at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex pool. The WashU men are ranked seventh in Division III, while the WashU women are ranked 12th in Division III.
