Adams State Men Tabbed Preseason DII Men’s Cross Country Favorites for the Sixth-Straight Year

NEW ORLEANS – For the sixth year in a row, the Adams State men will begin their cross country season as the preseason favorites in the Division II Cross Country National Coaches Poll, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Winners of the past two national titles and five of the past six, Adams State is the unanimous No. 1 having earned all eight first place votes. No. 2 Grand Valley State, No. 3 Western State, No. 4 Chico State and No. 5 Colorado Mines rounded out the top five.

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Division II XC Polls/Rankings Central

Grand Valley State’s women were tabbed as the preseason favorite in the women’s edition of the DII National Coaches Poll released Wednesday.

NCAA Division II National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Adams St. GVSU Western St. Chico St. Colorado Mines View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll

Head coach Damon Martin’s Adams State Grizzlies have a lot going for them as they prepare to defend their streak. They return defending individual cross country champion senior Tabor Stevens, two-time All-American junior Kevin Batt and junior Kyle Masterson as All-Americans from a year ago, as well as two others who finished in the top 60.

Those five give Adams State a nation-best five returning top-100 finishers –  plus, ASU will be bolstered by the return of Matt Daniels, who finished fourth overall in 2012 at NCAAs.

Recent history is on their side, too, as only one in the previous five seasons did the Grizzlies fail to win the national title as the preseason favorite – bitter rival Western State dethroned them in 2011.

Speaking of history, No. 2 Grand Valley State made some of its own as it checked in at No. 2 for the first time dating back to the beginning of the USTFCCCA archives in 2009. Head coach Jerry Baltes’ Lakers’ high-water mark in the poll follows their all-time best NCAAs finish as runners-up in 2013.

Returning from that team are a pair of All-Americans in senior Alan Peterson and junior Chad Cini as part of a contingent of four top-60 finishers from a year ago. GVSU will have even more wind behind its sails as it pushes on toward its first-ever national title with the addition of Adams State transfer John Luterbach, who finished 15th at NCAAs in 2012.

Checking in at No. 3 is Western State, which is outside the top two in the National Coaches Poll for the first time since week six of the 2012 season. Head coach Jen Michels’ Mountaineers, last year’s fourth-place team, were hit hard by the transfer of last year’s national runner-up and lone All-American Vegard Olstad to Division I Oklahoma State, but still return three men who finished among the top 60 in 2013.

No. 4 Chico State, coached byGary Towne has even fewer top returners – only two-time All-American senior Johnny Sanchez is back as a top-100 finisher for the Wildcats’ sixth-place team in 2013 – but a young group of runners has the West Region’s top-ranked team poised to reload rather than rebuild.

Rounding out the top five is the third top-five team from the RMAC, Colorado Mines, which finished fifth a year ago. The Orediggers, coached by Chris Siemers, return a duo in seniors Derek Alcorn and Phil Schneider who have five All-America awards between them in cross country, in addition to another top-75 individual. Alcorn and Schneider especially have championship experience, as they led CSM to a runner-up team finish in 2012.

Just behind Mines in the poll were No. 6 Southern Indiana and No. 7 Augustana (S.D.).

The No. 6 entry for returning ninth-place finisher junior Johnnie Guy and his Screaming Eagles is tied for the highest for USI in the USTFCCCA archives dating back to 2009. The last time head coach Mike Hillyard’s Southern Indiana squad was ranked so highly was week six of the 2011 season, and its last equivalent-or-better NCAA Championships performance was sixth-place in 2009.

Augustana (S.D.), on the other hand, checked in with its lowest preseason rank since it was No. 10 in 2010. This also marks the lowest rank for head coach Tracy Hellman’s Vikings since they was No. 7 in week seven of the 2011 season. Interestingly enough, the Vikings’ preseason ranks in each of the past three years was ultimately the same as their NCAA Championships finishes: third a year ago, fourth in 2012 and sixth in 2011.

Completing the top 10 were No. 8 Alaska Anchorage, No. 9 Shippensburg and No. 10 Metro State.

Shippensburg was trending the highest of any team in the poll relative to its 2013 finish: the Raiders were 23rd a year ago.

By conference, the RMAC led the way with four representatives — all of which were ranked among the top 10 in the nation. The PSAC and CCAA both put two squads in the top 25.

The South Central Region was the strongest in the poll with five teams among the top 13, but it was the West Region atop the list of total top-25 teams with six. The Central and Midwest regions both had four.

The Division II National Championships will be held Saturday, December 6, in Louisville, Kentucky.