2021 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 5

NEW ORLEANS – Change is in the eye of the beholder.

Here is the newest edition of the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll for Week 5 of the 2021 season, as released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Just six teams found new spots in the index, as most squads geared up for an upcoming weekend that promises excitement.

NCAA Division III — Men's Cross Country

This Week's National Top Five

1
Wartburg

2
Pomona-Pitzer

3
Williams

4
MIT

5
SUNY Geneseo

Cross Country Polls & Rankings

NATIONAL POLL

REGIONAL RANKINGS

Nothing changed among the top-5 programs from Week 4: Wartburg is still unanimous at the top of the National Coaches’ Poll, followed by No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer, No. 3 Williams, No. 4 MIT and No. 5 SUNY Geneseo. Huge midseason top-5 matchups await fans this weekend as the Knights and the Sagehens are both scheduled to compete at the Augustana Invitational, while the Ephs and Engineers tango at the Connecticut College Invitational.

One spot out of the top-5, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps leapfrogged John Carroll (The Stags are now ranked No. 5; the Blue Streaks dropped down to No. 6). CMS starred at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational this past weekend as they put their top-4 scorers in the top-10 and used a 25-second spread to win by 16 points over NCAA Division II Azsua Pacific. The Stags, who finished runner-up at the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic two weeks ago, should be even better in the coming weeks, as they’ll finally be back to full strength.

Further down is where you’ll find that Johns Hopkins and UChicago swapped spots (The Blue Jays are now ranked No. 13; the Maroons slid one spot to No. 14). JHU turned in solid back-to-back efforts at the Iona Br. Paddy Doyle Meet of Champions and the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic with a runner-up finish in the former and a sixth-place effort in the latter.

The final changes to the National Coaches’ Poll in Week 5 saw Haverford and Otterbein trade placement (The Fords went from No. 22 to No. 21; the Cardinals went from No. 21 to No. 22). Haverford split its squad to strong results two weeks ago, most notably winning the Dan Talbot Open.

We’ll see five or more ranked teams compete at four different meets this weekend

• Augustana Invitational (7 teams): No. 1 Wartburg, No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer, No. 10 WashU, No. 12 North Central (Ill.), No. 14 UChicago, No. 22 Otterbein and No. 30 Calvin
• Connecticut College Invitational (8 teams): No. 3 Williams, No. 4 MIT, No. 16 RPI, No. 18 Middlebury, No. 23 Bates, No. 28 Amherst, No. 32 Connecticut College and No. 34 WPI.
• Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble (5 teams): No. 7 John Carroll, No. 8 UW-Whitewater, No. 17 Carnegie Mellon, No. 19 UW-Oshkosh and No. 26 Case Western Reserve
• Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle (7 teams): No. 5 SUNY Geneseo, No. 13 Johns Hopkins, No. 20 Lynchburg, No. 21 Haverford, No. 24 St. Olaf, No. 33 Rowan and No. 35 Christopher Newport.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 20, because that’s when the 2021 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will be held at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky!