Grand Valley State Women Favored in Final National Coaches’ Poll for Third Consecutive NCAA DII XC Title

NEW ORLEANS – Each and every edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) women’s NCAA Division II Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll released since the beginning of the 2013 season has had this constant: the Grand Valley State women have been ranked No. 1.

That trend continued with the final edition of the 2014 season released Tuesday afternoon as the Lakers will once again be favorites at the 2014 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships on December 6 in Louisville, Kentucky, to claim their third consecutive team title in a row. GVSU rolled to its 14th Midwest Region title in a row in a, 42-76, victory over new No. 5 Hillsdale.

For the first time, however, both the men and women of GVSU will enter the meet as favorites. The men’s National Coaches’ Poll, which can be viewed here, was also released Tuesday.

National Coaches Poll PDFs: Top 25 Summary | Week-by-Week 2014 | Week-by-Week All-Time
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NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) GVSU Adams St. Minnesota Duluth Augustana (S.D.) Hillsdale View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

Another trend for the GVSU women that continued itself on Tuesday? Only twice since the beginning of 2013 has GVSU not been the unanimous No. 1 team: in Tuesday’s pre-NCAAs poll and in last year’s pre-NCAAs poll.

No. 2 Adams State – which has been the second-ranked team in the country for each and every poll for the past three seasons – performed strongly enough in a South Central-title-winning romp over rival No. 7 Western State, 21-99, to pry away two of the eight first-place votes from GVSU.

The Lakers and Grizzlies found themselves in a similar situation a year ago; GVSU ended up scoring 54 points – the lowest since Adams State in 2005 – to Adams State’s 91.

Another rivalry manifested itself in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots of the poll as Minnesota Duluth bounced back from a tiebreak NSIC conference championships loss to Augustana (S.D.) with a Central Region title over the Vikings, 40-59. As a result, UMD moved up two spots to the No. 3 position it has held for much of the season, while Augustana slid down one spot to No. 4.

Rounding out the top five were the aforementioned Hillsdale Chargers, the runners-up in the Midwest. Not since a No. 4 rank in week two of y2k has Hillsdale been ranked so highly, and it has not entered NCAAs with a better dating back to at least 2000 (the beginning of the USTFCCCA polling archive).

For the second year in a row, Simon Fraser will enter the NCAA Championships as the No. 6 team in the country after upsetting now-No. 8 Chico State in the West, 103-112. The Clan was seventh at the meet a year ago.

The victims of Adams State’s romp in the South Central, Western State dropped a spot to No. 7 – its lowest rank since the beginning of the 2010 season and its lowest pre-NCAA position since entering the 2009 meet No. 7.

Suffering the biggest top-10 drop of the week was Chico State, down four spots to No. 8 following its loss in the West to Simon Fraser. No. 9 Wayne State (Mich.) also fell one position with its third-place showing in the Midwest.

Jumping all the way up from the ranks of those teams "also receiving votes" to round out the top 10 was Colorado Mines, which surprised with a third-place finish in the South Central just 13 points shy of No. 7 Western State. Not since the Orediggers entered the 2005 NCAA Championships at No. 9 have they been ranked so highly.

Some notes from the rest of the poll:

• Colorado Mines wasn’t the only team to make a big jump back into the poll after "also receiving votes" or being unranked: No. 13 Malone returned after taking fourth in the Midwest; No. 17 Metro State was fourth in the South Central; No. 18 UC San Diego was fourth in the West; No. 22 Central Washington was fifth in the West; and No. 23 Colorado Mesa was sixth in the South Central.
• Speaking of UC San Diego, Central Washington and Colorado Mesa: all three are making program history in their own ways. UC San Diego is back in the race for the first time since 2007; Central Washington, appearing at NCAAs for the first time since 2000, is ranked for the first time since week eight of the 2004 season and ranked its highest since the 2002 preseason; and Colorado Mesa is making its first-ever NCAA Division II Championships appearance.
• Add Southeast Champion No. 25 Montevallo to that list, as it is making just its second NCAA Championships appearance (the other in 2011).
• In its first full season as a Division II school, East Region champ Roberts Wesleyan was up five spots to No. 15, a new season/all-time program best.
• No. 20 Stonehill tied Roberts Wesleyan for the biggest move of teams who stayed inside the top-25, up five following its runner-up showing to Roberts Wesleyan in the East.