LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs women’s track and field squad is the team to beat according to the most recent national top 10 rankings, which were released Tuesday by Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).

The women grabbed the top spot in the polls this week, thanks in large part to a dominant performance over the weekend at the 29th annual Don Wright Meet. The Western women ran way with the team title, collecting 27 medals (nine gold, nine silver, nine bronze) en route to finishing 129 points ahead of second-place York in the nine-team event.

Caroline Ehrhardt, this week’s GoodLife Fitness Athlete of the Week, was a major contributor to the team’s success, as the second-year Health Sciences student won a gold medal in the long jump and a silver in the triple jump, where she improved her own school record with a leap of 12.42 metres.

The men’s team, meanwhile, held down its No. 5 spot in the rankings this week. They also won a team title at the Don Wright Meet, finishing 56 points ahead of second-place York. The men collected 19 medals at the event (nine gold, four silver, six bronze), and Josh Archer set a school record in the weight throw with a distance of 16.39 metres.

On the ice, the Mustangs’ men’s hockey team also enjoyed a rise in the CIS ranks this week, moving up to No. 2 after a strong showing last weekend on the road. In the most anticipated series of the season, Western (18-2-2) earned back-to-back 1-0 shutout victories on Friday (Jan. 20) and Saturday (Jan. 21) night against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. With the wins, the Mustangs moved six points ahead of Lakehead (16-6-0) in the OUA West. Goaltender Josh Unice, who earned shutouts in both games, was named OUA Athlete of the Week on Monday.

Western’s men’s volleyball team remained at No. 6 in the rankings this week, just nine votes behind UBC for No. 5. Coming off their first loss of the season, the Mustangs returned to the win column on Friday (Jan. 20) with a 3-0 sweep of Windsor at home. The Western men remain in first place in the OUA West with a 13-1 record, four points ahead of McMaster (11-2).

Complete CIS rankings below …

--

MEN’S HOCKEY

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. McGill (17-2-2) / 158 pts (12) / (2)
2. Western Ontario (18-2-2) / 127 (1) / (4) *
3. UNB (14-5-2) / 127 (1) / (1)
4. Moncton (15-6-0) / 107 (1) / (7)
5. Acadia (15-6-1) / 106 (1) / (6)
6. Alberta (15-5-2) / 94 / (5)
7. Saskatchewan (15-5-2) / 85 / (3)
8. Manitoba (14-4-2) / 65 (1) / (9)
9. UQTR (17-5-1) / 31 / (NR)
10. Saint Mary’s (13-7-2) / 13 / (10) *

Other teams receiving votes: Lakehead (13), UPEI (7), UBC (2).

* Western Ontario (over UNB) and Saint Mary’s (over Lakehead) were awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher-placed votes.
 
WOMEN’S HOCKEY

(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Laurier (19-0-1) / (2)
2. McGill (12-1-1) / (1)
3. Calgary (14-4-0) / (3)
4. StFX (14-3-0) / (4)
5. Moncton (13-2-1) / (6)
6. Guelph (15-4-1) / (5)
7. Alberta (10-3-7) / (7)
8. Saskatchewan (14-4-2) / (8)
9. Queen’s (11-6-3) / (9)
10. Montreal (9-4-1) / (10)

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Trinity Western (14-0) / 250 pts (25) / (1)
2. Manitoba (13-1) / 221 (1) / (2)
3. Laval (14-0) / 192 / (4)
4. Alberta (10-4) / 191 / (3)
5. UBC (8-6) / 141 / (5)
6. Western Ontario (13-1) / 132 / (6)
7. Calgary (9-5) / 104 / (7)
8. Brandon (9-7) / 74 / (8)
9. McMaster (11-2) / 67 / (9)
10. Winnipeg (6-10) / 30 / (10)

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. UBC (13-1) / 60 points / (1)
2. Saint Mary’s (12-0) / 55 / (T3)
3. Trinity Western (10-4) / 52 / (7)
4. Alberta (9-5) / 47 / (T3)
5. Winnipeg (12-4) / 44 / (2)
T6. Manitoba (9-5) / 39 / (5)
T6. Montreal (8-3) / 39 / (6)
8. Laval (7-4) / 32 / (8)
9. York (11-1) / 28 / (9)
10. Dalhousie (9-3) / 24 / (10)

Next highest vote getters: Calgary (19), Ottawa (15), McGill (13), Toronto (5.5), Thompson Rivers (4).

MEN’S BASKETBALL

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Carleton (15-0) / 516 pts (44) / (1)
2. Lakehead (12-2) / 473 / (2)
3. UBC (10-2) / 426 / (3)
4. StFX (9-2) / 384 / (4)
5. Saskatchewan (9-4) / 339 / (5)
6. Wilfrid Laurier (12-2) / 301 / (6)
7. Alberta (10-4) / 244 / (8)
8. Concordia (7-0) / 207 / (9)
9. Victoria (11-3) / 195 / (7)
10. Fraser Valley (9-5) / 121 / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: Windsor (59), UPEI (25), Ottawa (24).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Regina (13-0) / 444 pts (37) / (1)
2. Windsor (13-2) / 407 / (2)
3. UBC (10-2) / 368 / (3)
4. Saskatchewan (9-4) / 326 / (4)
5. Alberta (11-3) / 296 / (5)
6. Ottawa (13-2) / 266 / (7)
7. Carleton (10-5) / 214 / (6)
8. Acadia (9-1) / 195 / (8)
9. Brock (11-4) / 131 / (9)
10. Fraser Valley (10-4) / 105 / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: Toronto (79), Concordia (26).

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

(points) / (previous rankings)
1. Windsor 112 pts / (2)
2. Guelph 88 / (1)
3. Ottawa 77 / (3)
4. York 60.5 / (4)
5. Western Ontario 54 / (5)
6. Laval 39 / (6)
7. Regina 35 / (7)
8. Toronto 30 / (9)
9. Saskatchewan 29.5 / (10)
10. Sherbrooke 28.5 / (9)

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

(points) / (previous rankings)
1. Western Ontario 89 pts / (2)
2. Saskatchewan 80.5 / (5)
3. Guelph 79.25 / (1)
4. Windsor 75.5 / (3)
5. Calgary 69.5 / (4)
6. Alberta 56.5 / (7)
7. Ottawa 37 / (8)
8. Toronto 36.5 / (6)
9. York 35 / (9)
10. Victoria 28 / (NR)