For the first time in school history, the Ashland University men's swimming team is ranked first in the country.
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America released its Top 25 poll on Wednesday (Nov. 10) and the AU men were the top team in the rankings with 439 points. Missouri S&T is second with 385 points and Grand Valley State is third with 372 points.
The Ashland women nearly duplicated the men's ranking. Grand Valley State has the top-ranked women's team in the nation with 421 points. AU is second with 341 points and UC-San Diego is third with 328 points. This is the highest ranking the AU women have ever achieved.
The CSCAA also announced on Wednesday that Ashland sophomore Julie Widmann (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) is the national female swimmer of the week. Widmann is the second AU swimmer to receive that award this season. Earlier in the year, Maura Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio) received that honor.
Widmann won three individual events last Saturday at Indianapolis and reached an NCAA "B" cut in each event. She won the 100 backstroke (58.43), the 50 freestyle (23.77) and the 200 backstroke (2:08.83). Widmann also competed on the winning 200 free relay (1:36.27, 23.38, leadoff split). Her leadoff time of 23.38 is an NCAA "A" cut and Widmann is the only NCAA Division II swimmer in the country with an "A" cut at this stage of the season.
Both AU teams are coached by Paul Graham.
The Eagles will host Lake Erie this Saturday (Nov. 13, 1 p.m.).
Men's CSCAA Top 10
Rank Team Points
1 Ashland 439
2 Missouri S&T 385
3 Grand Valley State 372
4 Drury 357
5 Incarnate Word 341
6 Wayne State 327
7 UC-San Diego 282
8 Nova Southeastern 281
9 Ouachita Baptist 275
10 Wingate 273
Women's CSCAA Top 10
Rank Team Points
1 Grand Valley State 421
2 Ashland 341
3 UC-San Diego 328
4 Drury 298
5 Incarnate Word 293
6 Ouachita Baptist 292
7 California (PA) 254
8 Truman State 234
9 Indianapolis 229
10 Tampa 229
AU
SWIM/ALK