Three New No. 1 Teams In Week 4 NCAA D1 Women’s XC Regional Rankings

NEW ORLEANS — The stars are starting to come out in NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country and because of that, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Regional Rankings are changing.

After this past weekend’s action in Colorado, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Washington, among other states, we saw a major shift in the rankings released Monday.

Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Rankings Central | Men’s Rankings

There are three new No. 1 teams in the Regional Rankings and three moved up to the all-important No. 2 spot, which would gaurantee a NCAA Championship berth if those teams finish there at the Regional Championship.

How will these affect the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll? You’ll want to tune in Tuesday at noon ET as we reveal them LIVE on "Cross Country U," the new podcast presented by the USTFCCCA.

We’ll start in the West Region, where Washington jumped from No. 5 to No. 1 after romping to the team title at its own invitational. The Huskies put six runners in the top-9 — led by individual champion Charlotte Prouse — and scored 24 points to beat Oregon (57) and Harvard (78). In surging four spots, Washington vaulted over the previously top-ranked Ducks, previous No. 2 Stanford, previous No. 3 Portland and previous No. 4 Boise State. This is the first time since Week 3 of 2012 that the Huskies have been ranked No. 1 in the West Region.

Oregon, however, fell four spots after finishing second in Seattle. The Ducks saw a great debut from freshman Katie Rainsberger (2nd place overall), but she was the only mallard in the top-10.

With Oregon falling so many spots, it pushed the Pilots up to No. 2 from No. 3. Portland was idle, yet the team is still flying high after its runaway victory at the Roy Griak Invitational two weeks ago.

In the South Region, Mississippi used a seventh-place team finish at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational to jump two spots to No. 1. The Rebels were led by Mary Alex England (32nd) and Shelby Brown (33rd), yet also had Emily Bean (35th) and Bo Ummels (36th) close by. Ole Miss took over the No. 1 spot formerly held by Vanderbilt, which fell all the way to No. 5 this week after finishing 18th at Notre Dame. This is the first time the Rebels have been the top-ranked team in the South Region in program history.

Finally, we shift our focus to the Mountain Region where Colorado overtook New Mexico. This past weekend, the Buffaloes debuted their top runners at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and impressed. Colorado went 1-2-3-4-5, led by Erin Clark who became just the third woman to run under 20 minutes on that 6K course (19:54). The Lady Lobos showcased a strong top-2 at Notre Dame, but little else. Alice Wright and Calli Thackery both finished in the top-5, yet New Mexico couldn’t put any runners close by and Joe Franklin’s team took fourth in the team standings.

Outside of those three new No. 1s, those new No. 2s are Minnesota (Midwest Region), Portland (West Region) and Yale (Northeast Region). The aforementioned Pilots aren’t the only team with a big victory to its credit. This past weekend at the Paul Short Run, the Bulldogs shocked both Georgetown and Penn on its way to a 92-119-127 win. The Gophers put strong back-to-back performances together at the Griak Invitational and Notre Dame to move up.

Be sure to look below for the full Regional Rankings.

The NCAA Division I Regional Championships will be held around the country on Friday, November 11 with the return of the NCAA Championships to Terre Haute, Indiana, eight days later.

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.