NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Week 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – British Columbia is the No. 1 team in the first regular season NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced on Wednesday. The second regular-season poll will be released on Sept. 23.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
- British Columbia is No. 1 after not being in the preseason top 25 poll. The Thunderbirds received 15 first-place votes and a total of 494 points.
- British Columbia makes its 22 all-time appearance in the No. 1 spot.
- Northwest Christian (Ore.) dropped one position from No. 1 to No. 2. The Beacons received 3 first-place votes and 484 total points. This is the 42-consecutive appearance in the top 25 for the program.
- There are four new teams in the poll – No. 19 Oklahoma City, No. 21 Concordia (Neb.), No. 23 Doane (Neb.) and Siena Heights (Mich.).
- No. 6 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) makes its 136-consecutive appearance in the top 25, the longest active streak in the NAIA.
- The biggest drop within the top 25 was Oregon Tech as they fell eight positions from No. 8 to No. 16.
- Twelve out 21 conferences are represented in the top 25. The Cascade Collegiate Conference leads all leagues with four ranked teams in the top 25 –Northwest Christian, No. 13 College of Idaho, No. 16 Oregon Tech and No. 17 Southern Oregon.
- Former-member Simon Fraser (B.C.) had the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 40.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low ratings) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2015 NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 1 (Sept. 16)
| RANK | LAST | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | British Columbia (15) | 494 |
| 2 | 1 | Northwest Christian (Ore.) (3) | 484 |
| 3 | 2 | Carroll (Mont.) | 465 |
| 4 | 4 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 452 |
| 5 | 5 | Dordt (Iowa) | 425 |
| 6 | 3 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 403 |
| 6 | 17 | Biola (Calif.) | 403 |
| 8 | 9 | Taylor (Ind.) | 394 |
| 9 | 5 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 370 |
| 10 | 13 | Indiana Wesleyan | 337 |
| 11 | 7 | Westmont (Calif.) | 335 |
| 12 | 10 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 330 |
| 13 | 8 | College of Idaho | 323 |
| 14 | 11 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 306 |
| 15 | 15 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 271 |
| 16 | 8 | Oregon Tech | 262 |
| 17 | 14 | Southern Oregon | 218 |
| 18 | 17 | Milligan (Tenn.) | 211 |
| 19 | NR | Oklahoma City | 190 |
| 19 | 19 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 190 |
| 21 | RV | Concordia (Neb.) | 185 |
| 22 | 21 | St. Ambrose (Iowa) | 133 |
| 23 | RV | Doane (Neb.) | 129 |
| 24 | 20 | Tennessee Wesleyan | 124 |
| 25 | NR | Siena Heights (Mich.) | 122 |
Dropped from the Top 25: SCAD Savannah (Ga.) (No. 16), Hastings (Neb.) (No. 22), Great Falls (Mont.) (No. 25)
Others Receiving Votes: Trinity Christian (Ill.) 83; Hastings (Neb.) 80; Texas Wesleyan 68; Great Falls (Mont.) 60; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 51; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 37; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 36; Cornerstone (Mich.) 31; Huntington (Ind.) 9.
^Based off 2015 Preseason Coaches’ Poll (Aug. 26, 2015)
