New Teams Rise Near the Top of the Division II Cross Country Regional Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – No new No. 1 teams this week in the NCAA Division II cross country Regional Team Rankings, released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), but there were some big moves into (and out of) automatic qualifying territory.

Three men’s and three women’s regions saw new teams move into automatic qualifying position for the NCAA Division II Championships (December 6 in Louisville, Kentucky), while several national top-25 teams fell back to make room. All of this sets up the potential for a lot of movement in Wednesday’s National Coaches’ Polls.

Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Week-by-Week (also All-Time) | DII XC Rankings Central
QUICK LINKS: Men’s Regions | Women’s Regions

The Northern Michigan women (No. 19 nationally) made the most significant leap, jumping up three spots to No. 3 in the Midwest – a region that will send four teams to NCAAs – following a dominant win at the UW-Parkside Lucian Rose Invitational.

Among those teams the Wildcats defeated? Runner-up Saginaw Valley State (No. 24), which moved up a spot to sixth in the region, and Wayne State (Mich.) (t-No. 10), which dropped four spots to No. 7.

Similarly tumultuous was the men’s Midwest Region. Malone (No. 19 nationally) dominated at the Disney Classic to move up a spot to No. 4 (the final auto position) as did idle Ashland (No. 20) to No. 5. Making room for the duo was UW-Parkside (No. 16), which dropped two positions to No. 6 following a runner-up showing to Canadian University of Windsor at its own home meet.

In the men’s West Region, Western Washington (No. 25 nationally) fell to No. 7 – just on the outside of the region’s six automatic bids – after a disappointing showing at its home meet, while Simon Fraser slid into that all-important sixth spot with a strong run at Western Washington.

That meet also shook up the final auto-qualifying spots in the women’s West Region, where Alaska Anchorage moved to No. 5 (the region qualifies six teams) and host Western Washington (No. 23 nationally) dropped to No. 7.

The St. Thomas Aquinas women climbed up three spots to No. 3 in the East Region – on the right side of the bubble in a region that will send three teams to nationals. The Spartans won the Jack Saint Clair Memorial XC Championship over host Philadelphia U, 52-67. Consequently, Philadelphia dropped a spot to No. 4 in the region.

In the South Region, the Alabama-Huntsville men stepped up three positions to No. 2 following a runner-up showing to regional No. 1 Florida Southern at the Florida State Invitational. The Chargers finished ahead of Saint Leo as both teams moved into the region’s top three (Saint Leo moved up one spot to No. 3). Tampa and West Alabama both dropped two spots.

Swapping spots within the men’s East Region’s automatic qualifying territory were Franklin Pierce (up one spot to No. 2) and national No. 23 Stonehill (down one spot to No. 3) following the results at the New England (NEICAAA) Championships.

Several teams also moved up to right onto their region’s bubbles. The Slippery Rock men stepped up to No. 4 in the Atlantic Region, as did the women of Lock Haven in the Atlantic and Queens (N.C.) in the Southeast.

New to the men’s regional rankings this week were West Chester (Atlantic); Tarleton State (South Central); and Montevallo (Southeast). Joining the women’s region rankings were Merrimack (East) and Cal State Stanislaus (West).

Regionals will be held around the country on November 22 and 23. More information can be found on the USTFCCCA’s Regional Championships Central.

USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning team strength with current-season results in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.