IOWA CITY, IA -- After finishing sixth in the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, the Iowa women's cross country team climbed up to 20th in this week's USTFCCCA national ranking poll, released Tuesday. In the Big Ten Championships, Iowa finished higher than Penn State, who was previously ranked above the Hawkeyes, allowing Iowa to move up after Penn State fell from 19th to 25th. This is Iowa's highest national ranking of the season, after being 21st and 27th in previous polls.

Penn State was not the only team whose rank was affected significantly by the outcome of the Big Ten Championships. Wisconsin's second place finish propelled them from 16th to 8th, at the expense of Illinois and Michigan, who dropped four and nine spots, respectively. Minnesota remains the highest ranked Big Ten team (7th) after their Big Ten Championships victory.

Iowa will meet Minnesota and Illinois again on Nov 15 at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship in Stillwater, OK, allowing the Hawkeyes one more chance to climb up the national rankings.

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