Two New Teams Top Latest NCAA DI Regional Rankings

How will today’s new Regional Rankings affect the week two National Coaches’ Polls? Find out in a LIVE podcast unveiling of the polls Tuesday at noon ET on USTFCCCA.org.

NEW ORLEANS – Though this past weekend’s NCAA Division I cross country action may not have counted for NCAA Championships at-large qualifying purposes (this Friday marks the start of at-large consideration), it certainly had an impact on the week two Regional Rankings announced Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Division I XC Rankings Central
Quick Links: Men’s Rankings | Women’s Rankings

Two new women’s teams in Michigan and NC State climbed to the tops of their respective regions, while the Indiana men – a national top-10 team from a week ago – took a sharp turn in the opposite direction.

Between the Michigan women and the Indiana men, the Great Lakes Region was a hotbed of significant action this past weekend.

With a strong 39-point performance to topple South No. 1 Vanderbilt by 53 points on Vandy’s home course, the Wolverines leapfrogged both defending national champion Michigan State and Wisconsin to assume control of the Great Lakes. U of M was led by a dominant 20-second win by Erin Finn, who ran her first XC race in the Maize and Blue since last year’s Pre-Nationals.

Michigan State and Wisconsin both held out key runners in performances at the MSU Spartan Invite and the Iona Br. Doyle Meet of Champions, respectively.

Indiana’s men entered the Indiana Intercollegiate Championships ranked No. 2 in the Great Lakes and No. 10 nationally, but ran as a pack and finished just third overall with 45 points in the Big State division behind regional foes IUPUI (40) and Indiana State (43). Consequently, the Hoosiers dropped five spots to No. 7 in the region, while IUPUI moved up four to No. 5 and Indiana State moved up one to No. 6.

Notably, IU’s potential top runner Matthew Schwartzer did run unattached as the victor of the open race. In the meantime, however, Michigan assumed control of the region’s No. 2 spot behind Wisconsin.

Combining the moves by Indiana and IUPUI with a four-spot rise by Akron to No. 8 and a matching decline by Notre Dame to No. 10, 11 of the region’s 15 teams changed places from a week ago.

In the women’s Southeast Region, a stellar debut win from frosh Ryen Frazier led the Wolfpack to an easy home victory at the adidas XC Challenge with 19 points over Duke’s 48 – all with Ryen’s sister, Wesley, running unattached as the meet’s runner-up.

The showing bumped NC State up three spots, displacing former regional leader William & Mary to No. 2, Virginia to No. 3 and North Carolina to No. 4.

The men’s Southeast was also active, as Eastern Kentucky moved up to No. 3 as North Carolina fell two spots to No. 5.

Both the men’s and women’s South Region saw top-five shifts, with both the Middle Tennessee men and Mississippi State women moving up to No. 3. Top-two might be a crucial position in this region, as neither the men nor women advanced more than the minimum two teams to the NCAA Championships a year ago.

Out West, a head-to-head victory by the Washington State men over Washington at Washington’s Sundodger Invitational shook up the latter two-thirds of the region’s rankings. WSU moved up five spots to No. 7, just ahead of Washington after a three-spot drop.

Joining the women’s rankings this week were Indiana State and Xavier (Great Lakes); Florida Gulf Coast (South); Duke and South Carolina (Southeast); and Washington State and Idaho (West).

The lone new team to the men’s rankings this week was Samford (South).

NCAA Division I Regional Championships will be held around the country on Friday, November 13 with the national meet occurring eight days later in Louisville, Kentucky.

USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning teams’ strength with current season results (if applicable) in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.