FOOTBALL TIGERS RANKED SIXTH IN    SPORTS ILLUSTRATED POLL

NEW YORK, NY (August 12, 2004)—Hampden-Sydney’s football team has been ranked sixth by Sports Illustrated in the magazine’s annual preseason top-ten for NCAA Division III programs.  The ranking is the first-ever for the College football program in a Sports Illustrated poll. 

The ranking is the highest for the Tigers in the three preseason polls released thus far.  The team garnered a No. 13 ranking in the Street and Smith magazine top-25 and was ranked 20^th in the D3football.com preseason poll. 

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse was tapped as the preseason No. 1 in the poll, followed by Linefield, perennial power Mount Union, St. John’s and Old Dominion Athletic Conference-foe Bridgewater.  The Tigers were ranked sixth, followed by Ithaca, Rowan, Hardin-Simmons and Trinity. 

As many as 15 starters return for the Tigers, who begin practice on August 13, after the team rolled through the 2003 regular season with a 9-1 overall record and 5-1 mark in the conference.  Preseason All-American’s JD Ricca (Gaithersburg, MD/St. John’s) and CW Clemmons (Covington, VA/Alleghany) return to bolster the Hampden-Sydney offense, which led the nation in scoring last season averaging 47.2 points-per-game, while nine starters return on defense, including All-ODAC end James Riley (Richmond, VA/James River) and All-ODAC linebacker Daniel Park (Richmond, VA/Fork Union). 

Hampden-Sydney opens its season on road at the University of the South (Sewanee) on September 4 at 1 pm CST/2 pm EST.  The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/atheltics.

-www.hsc.edu/athletics-