Top-Five Moves by Southern Indiana & Metro State Highlight DII Cross Country National Coaches Polls

NEW ORLEANS – How much has changed since the preseason in the first regular season edition of the NCAA Division II National Coaches Polls released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)?

It depends where you’re looking.

National Coaches Poll PDFs: Top 25 Summary | Week-by-Week 2014 | Week-by-Week All-Time
Regional Rankings PDF: Regional Summary | Regional Week-by-Week

Division II XC Polls/Rankings Central

NCAA Division II National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Adams St. GVSU Western St. Chico St. Southern Indiana View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll NCAA Division II National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) t5) t5) GVSU Adams St. Western St. Minnesota Duluth Chico St. Metro St. View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

A glance at the top shows both the two-time defending NCAA Division II Cross Country team champion Adams State men and Grand Valley State women remaining unanimous No. 1s, and the top four men’s and women’s teams all staying stationary.

For the men, No. 2 GVSU, No. 3 Western State and No. 4 Chico State all held firm in their preseason positions, as did the women of No. 2 Adams State, No. 3 Western State and No. 4 Minnesota Duluth (as well as No. 5 Chico State).

Keep looking down, however, and there’s all sorts of early-season shuffling.

The men of Southern Indiana moved up to No. 5 – their first top-five appearance dating back to the beginning of the USTFCCCA archives in 2000 – to headline a men’s poll that featured 16 teams in different positions from the preseason, including four new teams.

The Screaming Eagles finished fourth in the mostly Division I 10-team field at the Kentucky Bluegrass Invitational, with two of the top three individual finishers in runner-up Johnnie Guy and third-place Tyler Pence. They displaced Colorado Mines to No. 6.

Two of those teams moved into the top 10, as Lock Haven jumped three spots to No. 9 and Mount Olive stepped up one position to No. 10.

Ashland, led by National Athlete of the Week Brian Baum and his Michigan State Auto Owners Spartan Invite win, went from receiving votes to No. 13 for the biggest leap of the week. Joining the Eagles as new additions to the poll were No. 18 UC Colorado Springs, No. 22 UW-Parkside and No. 24 Hillsdale.

The women’s poll also got a new No. 5 team – added another one, in fact – as Metro State tied Chico State for the fifth spot. The Roadrunners – also up to their highest position in the poll since at least 2000 – were one of 13 teams to move around in the poll since the preseason. Of those 13, five were new to the top 25 this week.

Joining the top 10 with a significant seven-spot improvement was No. 9 Simon Fraser, which returned to the top-10 after spending a majority of 2013 among the top seven teams. The Clan put seven runners within the top 25 individual finishers in the 19-team open race at the Washington Sundodger Invitational.

Just missing out on the top 10 were a pair of teams new to the 2014 polls in No. 11 Wayne State (Mich.) and No. 12 Midwestern State.

Wayne State, which didn’t even receive votes in the preseason, nearly broke through for its first top-10 appearance since week nine of the 2008 season.  The Warriors put six runners in the top 85 at the unscored, 29-team MSU Spartan Invitational.

The last time Midwestern State was ranked so highly was a No. 10 slot in week five of the 2012 season.

Also new to the women’s poll were No. 14 UC San Diego, No. 16 Southern Indiana and No. 24 Montevallo.

UC San Diego is a top-15 squad for the first time since it checked in at No. 14 in week four of the 2008 season, while this marks the first appearance in the National Coaches Poll for Montevallo since the beginning of the USTFCCCA archives in 2000. The school finished in that same slot in its only NCAA Championships appearance in 2011.

The Division II National Championships will be held Saturday, December 6, in Louisville, Kentucky.