

Michigan State Women Move Up in a Quiet Division I XC National Coaches Poll
NEW ORLEANS – All is still mostly quiet in the first regular-season edition of the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches Poll released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
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With three weekends of largely low-impact, rust-busting competition having gone by and another low-key weekend left before the stakes are raised with the first day of countable meets for NCAA Championships on September 26, few teams moved more than a spot or two from their preseason positions.
All top five men’s teams held steady, as did four of the top five women’s team.
The one new women’s team? Apparently Michigan State‘s women didn’t get the memo to take it easy until September ends.
National Poll PDFs: Week 1 Top 30 Summary | Week-by-Week 2014 | Week-by-Week All Time
Regional Rankings: Week 1 Summary
Division I XC Rankings and Polls Central
The Spartans moved up three positions to No. 3 – just two spots away from top-ranked bitter rival Michigan – and earned a first-place vote after two strong showings by their top women at the Oregon Bill Dellinger Invitational and their own Auto Owners Spartan Invitational. National Athlete of the Week Rachele Schulist and reigning steeplechase champion Leah O’Connor each earned wins in those respective meets.
Now up to their highest rank since week five of the 2002 season (also its highest rank in the USTFCCCA archives dating back to 1995), the Spartans took down a conservative No. 2 Oregon squad in its debut and the two-time reigning Division II champion Grand Valley State women this past weekend.
Rival Michigan stayed at No. 1 with eight first-place votes – up two from the preseason – with just a home time trial under its belt, while Oregon remained No. 2 with two first-place votes. Following Michigan State was No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 Georgetown, both of which also held steady.
Preseason No. 3 Florida State traded spots with Michigan State to fall to No. 6, its lowest rank since week three of the 2011 season. Colorado and Arkansas – still with a first-place vote – traded spots to end up at Nos. 7 and 8, respectively, while Iowa State and Virginia rounded out the top 10.
Defending men’s national champion Colorado remained the unanimous No. 1 team with all 12 first-place votes. The Buffaloes performed well at their home time trial and sent a small group of runners to Colorado State, but have yet to fully open up their top squad.
With both having hosted home invitationals, Northern Arizona stayed steady at No. 2 and Oregon – which debuted defending individual national champ Edward Cheserek in a win – held firm at No. 3.
Oklahoma State and Stanford rounded out the top five.
A pair of teams swapped spots in the bottom half of the top 10, with No. 6 Portland/No. 7 Indiana and No. 9 Villanova/No. 10 BYU trading spots from the preseason. Sandwiched in between was No. 8 Syracuse.
Only two new teams joined the poll this week: the Boise State women at No. 19 and the Columbia men at No. 30.
The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held November 22 in Terre Haute, Ind.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division I |
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Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll |
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2014 Week #1 — September 16 |
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next poll: September 23 | ||||||
Rank | Institution (FPV) | Points | Region | Conference | Cross Country Coach (Yr*) |
Last Week
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1 | Colorado (12) | 360 | Mountain | Pac-12 | Mark Wetmore (20th) |
1
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2 | Northern Arizona | 340 | Mountain | Big Sky | Eric Heins (8th) |
2
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3 | Oregon | 336 | West | Pac-12 | Robert Johnson (3rd) |
3
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4 | Oklahoma State | 321 | Midwest | Big 12 | Dave Smith (9th) |
4
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5 | Stanford | 309 | West | Pac-12 | Chris Miltenberg (3rd) |
5
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6 | Portland | 285 | West | West Coast | Rob Conner (25th) |
7
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7 | Indiana | 277 | Great Lakes | Big Ten | Ron Helmer (8th) |
6
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8 | Syracuse | 275 | Northeast | ACC | Chris Fox (10th) |
8
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9 | Villanova | 251 | Mid-Atlantic | Big East | Marcus O’Sullivan (15th) |
10
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10 | BYU | 249 | Mountain | West Coast | Ed Eyestone (15th) |
9
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11 | Wisconsin | 246 | Great Lakes | Big Ten | Mick Byrne (7th) |
11
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12 | Iona | 234 | Northeast | Metro Atlantic | Ricardo Santos (7th) |
12
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13 | Arkansas | 194 | South Central | SEC | Chris Bucknam (7th) |
13
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14 | Virginia | 184 | Southeast | ACC | Peter Watson (3rd) |
14
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15 | NC State | 173 | Southeast | ACC | Rollie Geiger (37th) |
15
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16 | Providence | 171 | Northeast | Big East | Ray Treacy (31st) |
16
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17 | New Mexico | 165 | Mountain | Mountain West | Joe Franklin (8th) |
17
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18 | Tulsa | 139 | Midwest | American | Steve Gulley (13th) |
18
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19 | North Carolina | 118 | Southeast | ACC | Mark VanAlstyne (3rd) |
20
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20 | Eastern Kentucky | 113 | Southeast | Ohio Valley | Rick Erdmann (36th) |
21
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21 | Princeton | 109 | Mid-Atlantic | Ivy | Jason Vigilante (3rd) |
19
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22 | Michigan | 102 | Great Lakes | Big Ten | Kevin Sullivan (1st) |
22
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23 | Texas | 99 | South Central | Big 12 | Mario Sategna (2nd) |
23
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24 | UCLA | 98 | West | Pac-12 | Mike Maynard (6th) |
24
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25 | Florida State | 92 | South | ACC | Bob Braman (15th) |
24
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26 | Iowa State | 91 | Midwest | Big 12 | Martin Smith (2nd) |
26
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27 | Washington | 72 | West | Pac-12 | Greg Metcalf (13th) |
27
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28 | Oklahoma | 52 | Midwest | Big 12 | Jim VanHootegem (2nd) |
28
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29 | Colorado State | 35 | Mountain | Mountain West | Art Siemers (3rd) |
30
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30 | Columbia | 16 | Northeast | Ivy | Dan Ireland (1st) |
RV
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Others Receiving Votes: Georgetown 13, Penn State 13, Air Force 9, Butler 9, Lamar 7, Auburn 6, Yale 6, Virginia Tech 4, William and Mary 3 | ||||||
Dropped Out: No. 29 Georgetown | ||||||
(* year as effective coach of that team in men’s cross country) |
USTFCCCA NCAA Division I |
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Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll |
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2014 Week #1 — September 16 |
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next poll: September 23 | ||||||
Rank | Institution (FPV) | Points | Region | Conference | Cross Country Coach (Yr*) |
Last Week
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1 | Michigan (8) | 356 | Great Lakes | Big Ten | Mike McGuire (23rd) |
1
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2 | Oregon (2) | 337 | West | Pac-12 | Robert Johnson (3rd) |
2
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3 | Michigan State (1) | 328 | Great Lakes | Big Ten | Walt Drenth (11th) |
6
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4 | Stanford | 322 | West | Pac-12 | Chris Miltenberg (3rd) |
4
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5 | Georgetown | 308 | Mid-Atlantic | Big East | Michael Smith (3rd) |
5
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6 | Florida State | 299 | South | ACC | Karen Harvey (8th) |
3
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7 | Colorado | 281 | Mountain | Pac-12 | Mark Wetmore (20th) |
8
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8 | Arkansas (1) | 280 | South Central | SEC | Lance Harter (25th) |
7
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9 | Iowa State | 257 | Midwest | Big 12 | Andrea Grove-McDonough (2nd) |
9
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10 | Virginia | 255 | Southeast | ACC | Todd Morgan (3rd) |
10
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11 | Butler | 236 | Great Lakes | Big East | Matt Roe (8th) |
12
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12 | New Mexico | 229 | Mountain | Mountain West | Joe Franklin (8th) |
11
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13 | Villanova | 204 | Mid-Atlantic | Big East | Gina Procaccio (15th) |
14
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14 | Washington | 196 | West | Pac-12 | Greg Metcalf (13th) |
15
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15 | Syracuse | 192 | Northeast | ACC | Chris Fox (10th) |
13
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16 | Wisconsin | 152 | Great Lakes | Big Ten | Mick Byrne (1st) |
16
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16 | Boston College | 152 | Northeast | ACC | Randy Thomas (23rd) |
17
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18 | Providence | 150 | Northeast | Big East | Ray Treacy (31st) |
18
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19 | Boise State | 123 | West | Mountain West | Corey Ihmels (2nd) |
RV
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20 | Oklahoma State | 121 | Midwest | Big 12 | Dave Smith (6th) |
19
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21 | West Virginia | 119 | Mid-Atlantic | Big 12 | Sean Cleary (8th) |
20
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22 | Virginia Tech | 104 | Southeast | ACC | Ben Thomas (14th) |
21
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23 | SMU | 92 | South Central | American | Cathy Casey (10th) |
22
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24 | Vanderbilt | 89 | South | SEC | Steve Keith (9th) |
23
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25 | Dartmouth | 71 | Northeast | Ivy | Courtney Jaworski (1st) |
24
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26 | William and Mary | 69 | Southeast | Colonial | Natalie Hall (1st) |
25
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27 | Penn State | 68 | Mid-Atlantic | Big Ten | John Gondak (1st) |
29
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28 | Minnesota | 52 | Midwest | Big Ten | Sarah Hopkins (2nd) |
25
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29 | NC State | 34 | Southeast | ACC | Laurie Henes (9th) |
27
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30 | Weber State | 28 | Mountain | Big Sky | Paul Pilkington (8th) |
28
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Others Receiving Votes: Princeton 20, Arizona State 17, Toledo 12, Cornell 11, Texas A&M 4, Baylor 4, Utah 4, Ohio State 2, Duke 2 | ||||||
Dropped Out: No. 30 Arizona State | ||||||
(* year as effective coach of that team in women’s cross country) |