2017 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 5
NEW ORLEANS – Just about everything changed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll after this past weekend’s action at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational and Pre-National Invitational.
Only three teams remained in place from the previous index – No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 2 BYU and No. 8 Oregon – while five brand-new teams joined the most recent poll released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
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NAU and BYU left their marks once again as they dismantled talented fields in Wisconsin and Kentucky, respectively. The unanimous No. 1 Lumberjacks turned 19 other top-30 teams into Swiss cheese on their way to a 50-point total in Madison and the Cougars tallied just 41 points on the same course that the NCAA meet will be run on come November 18.
Portland unveiled its full roster for the first time this season and surprised everybody in Wisconsin with a runner-up finish. Jeff Thies (eighth), Nick Hauger (ninth) and Emmanuel Rufolff-Levisse (11th) led the way for the Pilots, who jumped from 25th to a program-record third from Week 4 to Week 5.
Syracuse, with a debuting Justyn Knight, took third in Wisconsin and fell to No. 4, while new No. 5 Colorado looked more like itself in Kentucky and finished runner-up to BYU.
Furman and Colorado State improved on their best rankings in their respective histories. The Paladins come in at No. 7 – up three spots from last time – following a fifth-place effort in Wisconsin and were six points out of third. The Rams moved up two spots from No. 11 to No. 9 after a sixth-place finish at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
Want an idea of how much changed between spots No. 13 and No. 22?
That’s where 13th-ranked Michigan headlines a group of six teams that were ranked in Week 4 to jump more than five spots. No. 14 UCLA, No. 16 Ole Miss, No. 17 Air Force, No. 19 Utah State and No. 20 Washington State were the others. This is the first time in the national top-20 for the Dillon Maggard-led Aggies.
Minnesota and Washington went from both receiving votes in Week 4 to No. 18 and No. 21, respectively. The Golden Gophers toppled eight ranked teams at Wisconsin, while the Huskies beat seven.
You’ll find Campbell, San Francisco and Penn State from No. 28 to No. 30. The Camels and Dons have never been ranked in the top-30 of the National Coaches’ Poll, while the Nittany Lions return for the first time since 2014.
Only two more polls will be released this season: October 31 and November 13. The first is right after teams compete in their respective conference championships. The second will serve as a preview for the 2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships five days later.
