Feb. 26, 2007

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern moved up one spot to No. 5 in the final College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) coaches poll, closing the season with its highest dual-meet ranking in recent memory.

The Wildcats, who completed the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record (7-0 against Division I competition), are coming off an impressive performance at the Big Ten Championships. Northwestern won 10 conference titles in the meet, nearly matching the 11 won by the rest of the Big Ten schools combined.

The Wildcats had been ranked sixth in the last couple of CSCAA rankings after opening the year at No. 8. Northwestern received 231 points, one point better than sixth-place Arizona -- the team NU jumped in the final poll.

Stanford (5-0) received five first-place votes and 266 points overall to be crowned 2006-07 poll champion, while Texas (8-0) earned four first-place votes and 265 points to finish second. Auburn (5-1, 246 points) was third and California -- a team NU bested at the four-team Dallas Morning News Swimming & Diving Classic back in January -- was fourth with 245 points and a 5-3 dual-meet record.

Northwestern returns to action March 15-17 at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn.