Inaugural NJCAA National Polls & Rankings Announced

NEW ORLEANS – It seems as if there is a common feeling about who the best teams are in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Cross Country. Well, at least according to those voters in the inaugural national polls and rankings released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Voters felt that both the men’s and women’s programs from Central Arizona College are the teams to beat in the NJCAA Division I National Coaches’ Polls.

In the NJCAA Division III, both the men’s and women’s teams programs from Harper College landed top billing.

From Second to First – NJCAA Division I

Full NJCAA DI National Coaches’ Polls

Last year both teams from Central Arizona College finished runner-up at the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Lubbock, Texas. With that experience and a strong crop of freshmen, the voters gave the men seven of eight first-place votes and the women received five of eight.

Coming in at No. 2 in the first National Coaches’ Poll of the season for both the men and women is Iowa Central CC. The men won the national championship last year, while the women took third place in the team standings.

Rounding out the top-five on the men’s side are South Plains, Iowa Western CC and Allen County CC.

On the women’s side, Lansing CC earned two first-place votes for third, Mesa CC is fourth and El Paso CC is fifth.

Hawks Soar to the Top Again – NJCAA Division III

Full NJCAA DIII National Rankings

The rankings predict Harper College men’s team repeating as national champions and the women improving on a runner-up finish at last year’s meet. The Hawks, who are coached by Jim Macnider, likely return seven athletes from those teams combined.

There are five other programs that double-dipped into the rankings: Joilet Junior College (third in the men’s poll, fourth in the women’s), Mohawk Valley CC (fourth, fifth), Bergen CC (fifth, sixth), Camden County (ninth, seventh) and Herkimer County CC (10th, 10th).

Other teams in the men’s rankings are Maryland-based Howard CC (second), SUNY Broome CC (sixth), Northampton CC (seventh) and New Jersey’s Union County (eighth).

Suffolk County CC and the Fashion Institute of Technology are second and third in the women’s rankings, respectively. Rowan-Gloucester CC (eighth) and Anne Arundel CC are the last two schools in the top-10.