2017 NCAA DIII Cross Country Regional Rankings – Preseason

NEW ORLEANS – Another exciting season of NCAA Division III Cross Country is about to start.

With that known, it’s time to check out the Regional Team Rankings as released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

QUICK LINKS: Men’s Rankings | Women’s Rankings
Regional Team Rankings Summary – PDF
Regional Team Rankings Summary – All Time

For those who don’t know, the 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.

This year the NCAA Division III Regional Championships will be held across the nation on Saturday, November 11.

Atlantic Region

After sweeping the team titles last year, SUNY Geneseo has the top-ranked men’s and women’s team in the Atlantic Region. The men graduated their No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 runners from last year’s NCAA runner-up, but return individual region champ Isaac Garcia-Cassani. The women lost five of their top-7 runners to graduation as well, so they’ll be looking to find out who is ready to step up.

Sitting behind the SUNY Geneseo men in the rankings are No. 2 RPI, No. 3 TCNJ, No. 4 Rowan and No. 5 Hamilton. The Profs finished eighth at the regional meet last year, so many are looking for big things from them.

SUNY Geneseo’s women are trailed by No. 2 Ithaca, No. 3 RPI, No. 4 St. Lawrence and No. 5 SUNY Oneonta. The Red Dragons finished runner-up to the Knights last year while the Bombers, Engineers and Saints all moved up in the rankings from 2016.

Central Region

2016 region champs Loras and St. Olaf are the headliners once again. The Duhawks return their top-4 led by individual region champ Mason Tope. The Lions might have finished third at their conference meet, but rallied to win the region and have that experience to grow on.

The St. Olaf men are No. 2 behind Loras and in third is Nebraska Wesleyan. Carleton makes the climb all the way up from No. 10 and Luther comes in at No. 5

Over in the women’s rankings, St. Thomas (Minn.) sits at No. 2, followed by Carleton at No. 3, Wartburg at No. 4 and Nebraska Wesleyan at No. 5.

Great Lakes Region

Calvin’s teams are both No. 1 following a sweep of the team titles last year. The Knight men went 2-11-13-18-19 at the regional meet last year and return all but two of those athletes. Calvin’s women had three freshmen in their top-5 at the regional meet and have a strong foundation on which to continue to build.

Right behind Calvin’s men is No. 2 Ohio Northern, No. 3 Mount Union, No. 4 Wabash and No. 5 Case Western Reserve. Those teams finished third, fourth, fifth and sixth at the regional meet last year and Allegheny (Pa.), the runner-up, is sixth.

Calvin’s women are trailed by No. 2 Oberlin, No. 3 Hope, No. 4 Otterbein and No. 5 Allegheny (Pa.).

Mideast Region

Both the men and women of Johns Hopkins are No. 1 at the start of the season. The Blue Jay men return four runners who finished in the top-25 of the regional meet, while the women return a healthy contingent of athletes including standout Felicia Koerner.

Those remaining top-5 teams sitting behind the Johns Hopkins men in the rankings all finished behind them at the regional meet – No. 2 Haverford, No. 3 Carnegie Mellon, No. 4 Dickinson and No. 5 York (Pa.).

Here are those teams expected to trail Johns Hopkins come November – No. 2 Elizabethtown, No. 3 Dickinson, No. 4 Haverford and No. 5 Waynesburg.

Midwest Region

Familiar faces dot the No. 1 spots in the region – the North Central (Ill.) men and the Washington (Mo.) women. Both the Cardinals and Bears ran away with the regional titles last year and many expect them to do the same again. North Central (Ill.) welcomes back Dhruvil Patel (No. 5 at regional meet), Al Baldonado (No. 8) and Zach Hird (No. 15), among others. Wash U is going to be led by Aly Wayne and Alison Lindsay, who finished second and third at the regional meet last year, respectively.

No. 2 UW-La Crosse, No. 3 UW-Eau Claire, No. 4 Washington (Mo.) and No. 5 UW-Stevens Point are expected to contend for the runner-up spot behind the Cardinals.

No. 2 UW-La Crosse, No. 3 Chicago, No. 4 UW-Eau Claire and No. 5 UW-Oshkosh should make life a little bit more interesting for the Bears.

New England Region

Williams and MIT are favored to win the New England Region and it depends on which set of rankings you’re looking at to know which one is on top.

In the men’s rankings, the Ephs are No. 1, followed by No. 2 MIT. Williams did lost standout Peter Hale to graduation but have a battle-tested group of athletes ready to step up. Other than the Engineers, No. 3 Amherst, No. 4 Middlebury and No. 5 Bates make up the top-5.

MIT is No. 1 in the women’s rankings and is followed by No. 2 Williams, t-No. 3 Tufts and Middlebury as well as No. 5 Bates. The Engineers won the team title last year and will be looking at Megan McCandless to contend for the individual title (second last year) and Leandra Zimmermann to back her up.

South/Southeast Region

Christopher Newport’s men and the Emory women are tabbed to win the South/Southeast Region this year. Both were regional champs last year.

The Captains return their top-3 runners, led by reigning individual champ Grayson Reid. CNU fended off Washington and Lee for the crown, but Emory is expected to finish above the former runner-up. No. 4 Rhodes and No. 5 Trinity (Texas) round out the top-5.

Emory’s women have three of their top-5 back, including regional fourth-place finisher Gabrielle Stravach. No. 2 Washington and Lee, No. 3 Rhodes, No. 4 Christopher Newport and No. 5 Trinity (Texas) are looking to knock the Eagles out of their nest.

West Region

Pomona-Pitzer’s men and the Whitworth women are the respective No. 1s in the West Region.

The Sagehens finished a distant third at the regional meet last year but have a strong core back, led by Andy Reischling. Pomona-Pitzer is followed by No. 2 Occidental, No. 3 Claremont-Mudd Scripps (last year’s champion), No. 4 Willamette and No. 5 UC Santa Cruz.

The Pirates have four of their top-5 runners back from the regional meet last year and will look to fend off No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, No. 3 Occidental, No. 4 Pomona-Pitzer and No. 5 Willamette.