Riding on a six-game winning streak, the hockey team jumped from No. 4 to No. 1 in both the USA Today and U.S. College Hockey Online polls released Monday.
MSU (7-1-1 overall, 6-1 CCHA) has not been ranked first in the nation since March 16, 1998, when USA Today tabbed it No. 1. It hasn’t been ranked No. 1 in both polls at the same time since March 2, 1998.
The Spartans snagged 28 of 40 first-place votes in the USCHO poll and 10 of 18 first place votes in the USA Today poll.
MSU swept then-No.12 Northern Michigan last weekend, giving pollsters good reason to bump the Spartans up after the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 teams all lost.
Boston College holds down the No. 2 slot in both polls, followed by Minnesota, North Dakota and Michigan in the USCHO poll. North Dakota, U-M and St. Cloud State round out the top five for USA Today.
The Spartans will host No. 7 Western Michigan, which is also on a winning streak, at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Munn Ice Arena.
The Broncos (8-1-1, 3-0-1) have won seven straight games and are ranked No. 7 in the USA Today poll and No. 8 in the USCHO.
Women’s cross country
Junior Ann Somerville will have to travel to Ames, Iowa, alone for the NCAA Championships next week.
She qualified individually for nationals, but her Spartan teammates weren’t as successful. Freshman Michelle Carson didn’t receive an at-large bid to the championships, despite a 13th-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional meet last weekend.
Somerville qualified for the NCAA meet by placing fifth at the regional meet with a time of 20:58, the third fastest time in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin runner Erica Palmer won the individual race at regionals with a time of 20:17.1. The fifth-place finish was Somerville’s fourth top-five finish of the year.
Earlier this year, Somerville earned All-Big Ten honors by placing fourth at the Big Ten championships.
The Spartan team’s season ended with a fifth-place finish at the regional meet.
Wisconsin won the team event with 65 points. MSU finished behind Michigan, Marquette and Indiana, scoring 222 points.
Somerville will race at nationals on Nov. 20.
Field hockey
Senior Debbie White will be rubbing shoulders with plenty of elite field hockey players Saturday.
The Spartan defender will compete in the North/South Senior All-Star game in Norfolk, Va. The game will coincide with the field hockey Final Four hosted by Old Dominion University.
White played in all 20 of MSU’s games this year, but failed to score. She notched one goal and four assists in her career at MSU. She is also a two-time member of the Big Ten All-Academic team.
The all-star game starts at 6:30 p.m.
