2019 NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 7
NEW ORLEANS – Regional Championship Weekend stirred up the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Monday.
Eleven teams improved their positioning and five new teams entered the Pre-Championships Edition of the poll after their performances this past weekend.
NCAA Division I — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Arkansas
Arkansas
2
Stanford
Stanford
3
BYU
BYU
4
Washington
Washington
5
Michigan State
Michigan State
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
No. 1 Arkansas received 10 first-place votes following a perfect score of 15 points in its ninth straight South Central Regional Championship. No. 2 Stanford received one first place vote after winning its first West Regional Championship since 2016 over No. 4 Washington, 39-49.
Moving into the top-5 for the first time since 2015 is No. 5 Michigan State following its first Great Lakes Region title since 2014. The Spartans placed their five scoring runners in the top-19 for a 49-74 victory over Michigan, which jumped three spots to No. 8.
New Mexico climbed three spots to No. 7. The Lobos placed second in the Mountain Region behind champion No. 3 BYU, 70-83. Third-place Air Force also climbed three spots to No. 12 for a program best.
Rounding out the movement in the top-10 is Florida State, which achieved its highest ranking since the 2014 season. The Seminoles climbed three spots to No. 9 after winning the program’s second consecutive South Region title by a 58-point margin over now-no. 22 Ole Miss, which moved up six spots from the last National Coaches’ Poll.
Penn State earned a two spot bump to No. 16 after narrowly winning the Mid-Atlantic Region title over Villanova 73-77. The Wildcats moved up six spots to No. 22 following their performance at regionals.
Climbing three spots to No. 17 is Ohio State. The Buckeyes placed fourth in the Great Lakes Regional Championships, finishing ahead of now-No. 19 Notre Dame by ten points. No. 18 Oregon and No. 21 Illinois each improved a spot in this week’s poll. The Ducks finished fourth in the West. The Fighting Illini won the program’s second Midwest Region title and first since 2006.
Jumping into the poll this week form previously receiving votes includes No. 24 Tulsa, No. 25 Harvard, No. 26 Indiana and No. 29 Texas following the results of Regional Championship Weekend.
Tulsa placed second at the Midwest Regional for the program’s best finish. Harvard won the program’s first Northeast Regional Championship. Indiana placed sixth in the Great Lakes Region, while Texas ran to runner-up honors in the South Central Region.
Cornell, who was previously unranked, comes in at No. 30 for their first appearance in the Coaches’ Poll since 2015. The Big Red placed second in the Northeast Region behind team champion Harvard.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we’ll have much more on the 2019 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, which are set to begin on Saturday, November 23, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.
