2017 NCAA DIII Cross Country Women’s National Coaches’ Poll – Preseason

NEW ORLEANSJohns Hopkins has been ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III Women’s Cross Country Preseason National Coaches’ Poll three out of the past four years.

It’s time to make that four out of the past five after the most recent poll was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women

1)North Central (Ill.) 2)St. Olaf 3)UW-La Crosse 4)UW-La Crosse 5)St. Olaf
Johns Hopkins Washington (Mo.) MIT UW-La Crosse SUNY Geneseo
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

The defending national champions Blue Jays headline the ballot and received seven first-place votes after a strong championship season in 2016. Johns Hopkins overcame a strong effort by runner-up Washington (Mo.) to nab the team title 128-202.

National PDFs: Summary | Week By Week | All Time

This year the Blue Jays return four of their top-5 runners including Felicia Koerner, who had a tremendous season on the track. Natalia LaSpada finished not too far behind Koerner at NCAAs last year and is expected to move up in the pack as a junior.

The other first-place vote went to No. 2 Wash U, which returns its top-2 runners in Aly Wayne and Alison Lindsay. Wayne and Lindsay finished eighth overall and 14th overall, respectively, at NCAAs in 2016, yet the Bears couldn’t help them out as the next runner came through in 85th. Wash U will look for depth in the guise of Ellie Degen and Anna Maurer this year.

MIT comes in at No. 3 and has three of its top-5 runners coming back, including Megan McCandless (17th overall in 2016). The Engineers have been ranked third or better in three of the past five preseason polls.

UW-La Crosse is No. 4 and matches its best ranking in program history. The Eagles lost two of their top-3 runners, but with Sadie Kroll having an extra year of experience under her belt and Sarah Ziolkowski on the rise, the voting coaches expect big things from them as a team.

The final spot in the top-5 belongs to SUNY Geneseo. The fifth-ranked Knights lost their top-2 runners to graduation, but should be fine with Elise Ramirez and Kristen Homeyer filling those shoes that were left.

Williams sits at No. 6, but one of the biggest stories of the poll is Ithaca at No. 7. That matches the best ranking in program history for the Bombers and with multiple NCAA track champion Taryn Cordani leading the way at the front of the pack, big things could be in store for them.

No. 8 Calvin, No. 9 Middlebury and No. 10 Tufts rounds out the top-10 in the preseason.

Oberlin went from not being ranked at the end of the 2016 season to No. 15.

The 2017 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, November 18 in Elsah, Illinois at the North Farm Facility. Principia will serve as host of the meet.

Athletic.net
Presenting sponsor of USTFCCCA Polls and Rankings

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III
Women's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

2017 Preseason - August 30th

RANK TEAM & INFOPTS2016
FINAL
1 johns-hopkins JOHNS HOPKINS
Mideast Region (1)
Centennial (2)
Bobby Van Allen (18th)
279
(7 fpv)
1
2 washington-mo WASHINGTON (MO.)
Midwest Region (1)
UAA (1)
Jeff Stiles (17th)
270
(1 fpv)
2
3 mit MIT
New England Region (1)
NEWMAC (1)
Halston Taylor (11th)
255 5
4 uw-la-crosse UW-LA CROSSE
Midwest Region (2)
WIAC (2)
Derek Stanley (6th)
247 6
5 suny-geneseo SUNY GENESEO
Atlantic Region (1)
SUNYAC (1)
Dan Moore (3rd)
246 3
6 williams WILLIAMS
New England Region (2)
NESCAC (1)
Pete Farwell (18th)
244 4
7 ithaca ITHACA
Atlantic Region (2)
Liberty League (1)
Erin Dinan (6th)
227 11
8 calvin CALVIN
Great Lakes Region (1)
Michigan Intercollegiate (2)
Brian Diemer (12th)
221 9
9 middlebury MIDDLEBURY
New England Region (3)
NESCAC (2)
Nicole Wilkerson (7th)
208 14
10 tufts TUFTS
New England Region (3)
NESCAC (3)
Kristen Morwick (18th)
199 8
11 whitworth WHITWORTH
West Region (1)
Northwest Conference (1)
Toby Schwarz (22nd)
185 17
12 rpi RPI
Atlantic Region (3)
Liberty League (3)
John Lynch (7th)
183 18
13 chicago CHICAGO
Midwest Region (3)
UAA (2)
Chris Hall (17th)
170 25
14 st-olaf ST. OLAF
Central Region (1)
MIAC (2)
Chris Daymont (37th)
169 32
15 oberlin OBERLIN
Great Lakes Region (2)
NCAC (2)
Ray Appenheimer (12th)
168 ---
16 claremont-mudd-scripps CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS
West Region (2)
SCIAC (1)
John Goldhammer (34th)
163 15
17 st-thomas-minn ST. THOMAS (MINN.)
Central Region (2)
MIAC (3)
Joe Sweeney (38th)
145 20
18 elizabethtown ELIZABETHTOWN
Mideast Region (2)
Landmark (1)
Brian Falk (10th)
143 29
19 hope HOPE
Great Lakes Region (3)
Michigan Intercollegiate (1)
Mark Northuis (30th)
131 10
20 st-lawrence ST. LAWRENCE
Atlantic Region (4)
Liberty League (2)
Kate Curran (2nd)
119 22
21 carleton CARLETON
Central Region (3)
MIAC (1)
Donna Ricks (25th)
116 28
22 emory EMORY
South/Southeast Region (1)
UAA (3)
John Curtin (33rd)
112 24
23 uw-eau-claire UW-EAU CLAIRE
Midwest Region (4)
WIAC (1)
Dan Schwamberger (11th)
111 ---
24 dickinson DICKINSON
Mideast Region (3)
Centennial (2)
Don Nichter (28th)
99 21
24 bates BATES
New England Region (5)
NESCAC (4)
Jay Hartshorn (13th)
99 19
26 uw-oshkosh UW-OSHKOSH
Midwest Region (5)
WIAC (7)
Eamon McKenna (3rd)
91 16
27 occidental OCCIDENTAL
West Region (3)
SCIAC (2)
Robert Bartlett (13th)
73 ---
28 otterbein OTTERBEIN
Great Lakes Region (4)
OAC (1)
Dara Ford (4th)
65 ---
29 washington-and-lee WASHINGTON AND LEE
South/Southeast Region (2)
ODAC (1)
Mike Dager (4th)
52 ---
30 wartburg WARTBURG
Central Region (4)
IIAC (2)
Ryan Chapman (2nd)
45 ---
31 haverford HAVERFORD
Mideast Region (4)
Centennial (3)
Fran Rizzo (27th)
39 23
32 suny-oneonta SUNY ONEONTA
Atlantic Region (5)
SUNYAC (6)
Brett Willmott (2nd)
38 7
33 brandeis BRANDEIS
New England Region (6)
UAA (6)
Sinead Evans (4th)
33 ---
34 allegheny-pa ALLEGHENY (PA.)
Great Lakes Region (5)
NCAC (1)
Ben Mourer (2nd)
27 13
35 nebraska-wesleyan NEBRASKA WESLEYAN
Central Region (5)
IIAC (1)
Ted Bulling (23rd)
21 30

Also Receiving Votes: St. Norbert 12, Rhodes 10, Stevens 10, Pomona-Pitzer 6, Rochester (N.Y.) 4, Waynesburg 3, DeSales 1, UW-Stout 1



Week-by-Week Ranking

TeamPreseasonWeek #1Week #2Week #3Week #4Week #5Week #6Week #7Week #8FINAL
Johns Hopkins1111111111
UW-Eau Claire232014131010191142
Washington (Mo.)2222227763
MIT3333332224
Carleton2123151011119975
SUNY Geneseo5554443336
Tufts101126171616171377
Williams6445554498
Ithaca7772126292724169
RPI12131216171723302110
Middlebury9881199881211
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps16121077756512
Whitworth11171820191921191913
Chicago136666615201814
Wheaton (Ill.)RV28252422551415
Trinity (Texas)RVRV333110101316
UW-La Crosse4999131312141017
Allegheny (Pa.)34282518
Hope19151312121218121119
Wartburg302730272525RVRV2220
St. Olaf14141919181813222621
St. Thomas (Minn.)171722RVRV33293022
Nebraska Wesleyan35RV31313328171723
Carnegie MellonRVRV2824
Emory22212523212129262225
Elizabethtown18222322202022181526
Haverford31292930293024252427
Dickinson24161688816233128
Otterbein28243233232411152829
TCNJRVRVRV222320213230
Calvin810111315152031
St. Lawrence20191718272625272732
Bates2425201513141416
WPI3131
Oberlin15RV2423RV2532
Linfield35RV29273032
Colorado College34
AmherstRVRV35
Occidental27273332343432RV
CentreRVRVRV
St. NorbertRV262135RVRV
Case Western Reserve34
UW-River FallsRVRV35
LynchburgRV
Kenyon3027262828
UW-Stevens Point293232
Brandeis3334RV3535
Puget SoundRVRV
Pomona-PitzerRV3128
RhodesRV333433
Rochester (N.Y.)RV3135
UW-WhitewaterRV
UW-Oshkosh2632
Washington and Lee29RV
GrinnellRV
Christopher NewportRV
SUNY Oneonta32
DeSalesRV
WaynesburgRV
StevensRV
UW-StoutRV

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III Cross Country

2017 Rankings & Polls Calendar
Weeks Regional RankingsNational Coaches' Poll KEY DATES
PreseasonTue 8/29Wed 8/30
MEN | WOMEN
Sep. 1: Earliest Contest
Week 1Tue 9/12Wed 9/13
MEN | WOMEN
Week 2Tue 9/19Wed 9/20
MEN | WOMEN
Sep. 23: 'Late-Season' begins
Week 3Tue 9/26Wed 9/27
MEN | WOMEN
Week 4Tue 10/3Wed 10/4
MEN | WOMEN
Week 5Tue 10/10Wed 10/11
MEN | WOMEN
Week 6Tue 10/17Wed 10/18
MEN | WOMEN
Oct. 28-29: Conference Champs
Week 7Tue 10/31Wed 11/1
MEN | WOMEN
Nov. 11: NCAA Regionals
Week 8Mon 11/13
MEN | WOMEN
Nov. 18: NCAA Champs
FINAL Results
(official final ranking)
Sat 11/11
MEN | WOMEN
Sat 11/18
MEN | WOMEN