Wesley Third in Lambert Meadowlands Poll

CAPE COD, Mass. - The Wesley College football team moved up to third in the latest ECAC Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy Top Ten Poll.

The Wolverines move up after a 36-21 win over Salisbury, coupled with a loss by last week's No. 3 Washington & Jefferson.

The Wolverines were fourth in each of the first three rankings.

Cortland State and Muhlenberg remained No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.  Cortland State tallied 87 points this week, while the Mules added two points to get to 81 this week. 

Wesley received 65, a nine point increase over last week, to place third.

Rensselaer moved into fourth with 60 points, while Ithaca jumped to places to round out hte top five with 48 points. 

The Presidents fell to sixth, followed by Trinity (Conn.), Salisbury, Montclair State and Hartwick to complete the rankings.  locked down spots six through nine respectively. 

Penn State leads the Division I-A poll, with James Madison following suite in I-AA.  West Chester took over the top spot in Division II this week, replacing Bloomsburg.

The ECAC will release the weekly poll in each of the four divisions (Bowl Subdivision (I-A), Championship Subdivision (I-AA), II and III) and the final poll in January will determine the trophy winners. The first place teams in the final poll will be presented with their Lambert Meadowlands Awards during the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet, held in the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Established in 1936 as the Lambert Trophy to recognize supremacy in Eastern college football, the award has since grown to recognize the best team in the East in the Bowl Subdivision. In 1957, the Lambert Cup was created to recognize non-Division I-A teams, and in 1966 a Division III award was added. In 1983, the Lambert family decided the Meadowlands Sports Complex would be the best organization with a sincere and involved interest in college athletics to sponsor and manage the award, and since that time, the awards have been known as the Lambert Meadowlands Awards.

To be eligible for the Lambert Meadowlands Award, a school must be located in the East or play half of its schedule against eligible Lambert teams. The territory includes New York, New Jersey, New England and Pennsylvania, while teams in the bordering states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and the District of Columbia qualify if half of their schedule features eligible teams.

Wesley climbed to ninth in the latest D3football.com Top 25.  The American Football Coaches Association poll is released Tuesdays.

ECAC® Lambert Meadowlands
Division III Football Poll
presented by FieldTurf Tarkett

1. Cortland State                    
2. Muhlenberg                       
3. Wesley                               
4. Rensselaer                         
5. Ithaca                                 
6. Washington & Jefferson   
7. Trinity                             
8. Salisbury                            
9. Montclair State                
10. Hartwick