Top Teams in Division II National Coaches Polls Hold Steady

NEW ORLEANS – As the Division II cross country regular season winds down to conference championships next weekend, the movement in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Coaches Polls is likewise starting to slow.

NATIONAL PDFs: National Summary | Week-by-Week | Week-by-Week All-Time
REGIONAL PDFs: Regional Summary | Week-by-Week
Division II XC Rankings Central

Just three women’s teams within the top 10 changed position from a week ago, while the men’s top 10 is identical to the previous addition of the poll. With no poll scheduled for next week, these are the national ranks teams will take into their conference championship meets.

Women

NCAA Division II National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
GVSU	Adams St.	Western St.	Augustana (S.D.) (-1)	Alaska Anchorage
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

The Western State women have broken their tie with Augustana (S.D.) and taken sole possession of the No. 3 spot, while Augustana fell to No. 4.

Mirroring the movement in the Regional Rankings yesterday, Simon Fraser has moved to No. 6 after a win at Western Washington, dropping Chico State back down to No. 7. The two have been going back and forth throughout the entire season, having now switched spots a total of three times.

The remainder of the top 10 stayed the same, headed by unanimous No. 1 Grand Valley State and No. 2 Adams State. Alaska Anchorage remained No. 5, while No. 8 Metro State, No. 9 Edinboro and No. 10 UC-Colorado Springs rounded out the top 10.

Behind a team win at the Disney Classic and a National Athlete of the Week nod for Tina Oprean, Malone is up to a program-best No. 12 in its first year of full Division II membership.

Just behind is No. 13 Shippensburg, which started the season at No. 6 before dropping out of the rankings in the following weeks. The Raiders have worked their way to No. 13 after being unranked three weeks ago.

New to the women’s rankings is No. 20 Northern Michigan and No. 24 Seton Hill.

Seton Hill is ranked for the first time since USTFCCCA records began in 2009, while Northern Michigan tallied just its third national ranking and its best in that same time period.

No. 23 Tampa rejoins the poll after an unranked week at No. 23 after finishing first among non-DI teams at Florida State, as does No. 24 Cal State Stanislaus following two unranked weeks.

Men

NCAA Division II National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Men
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Adams St.	Western St.	GVSU	Colorado Mines	Chico St.
View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll

Teams No. 1 through No. 11 remained in exactly the same position as last week, and only a handful of teams made moves throughout the rest of the poll.

No. 1 Adams State retained the national No. 1 spot for the 41st time in the past 42 weeks, while No. 2 Western State occupied its spot for the 28th time in the same time period.

In the move closest to the top of the rankings, No. 12 Mount Olive and No. 13 Lock Haven swapped spots from a week ago, as did No. 14 Central Missouri and No. 15 Malone. At No. 12, Mount Olive is tied for its best rank since USTFCCCA records began in 2009, which came two weeks ago.

No. 17 Cal Poly Pomona is up two spots to its highest rank since week eight of the 2009 season.

New to the poll are No. 19 Franklin Pierce, which is nationally ranked for the first time since USTFCCCA records began in 2009, and No. 25 Florida Southern, ranked nationally for the first time since the 2012 preseason.

Rejoining the poll after a long absence extending to the preseason is Western Washington at No. 22. The Vikings were No. 16 prior to the start of the season.

The Division II National Championships will be held Saturday,November 23, in Spokane, Wash., and will be broadcast live on NCAA.com.