Adams State Women Move Up in DII National Coaches’ Poll
NEW ORLEANS – Hillsdale’s women may have only taken over the NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll just a week ago, but already the Chargers are fending off their first challengers in the week three edition of the poll announced Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The idle Chargers lost two of their first-place votes to new No. 2 Adams State, which is coming off a strong showing in the Division I section of the Roy Griak Invitational. So good, in fact, that the Grizzlies passed up three-time defending national team champion Grand Valley State. The Lakers slipped to No. 3.
National PDFs: Top 25 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All-Time
Regional Rankings PDFs: Regional Rankings Summary | Rankings Recap
Men’s National Coaches’ Poll
Division II XC Polls/Rankings Central
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As it currently stands, Hillsdale owns four first-place votes, with Adams State claiming the remaining four.
The Grizzlies impressed with a seventh-place finish amongst a field of 25 other Division I schools, as Maura O’Brien finished 29th and Noel Prandoni 32nd overall to lead four finishers inside the top 51.
Like Hillsdale, Grand Valley State was also idle this weekend as it slipped to its lowest rank since 2012. The Lakers were ranked No. 3 throughout the entire regular season before winning their first of what has become three consecutive national titles.
With the similarly three-time defending men’s champion Adams State also dropping to No. 3 in Wednesday’s men’s National Coaches’ Poll, this marks the first time since week eight of the 2004 season that both these teams have been outside their respective genders’ top-two.
This weekend will be an opportunity for either Hillsdale to re-assert itself as the No. 1 team or GVSU to potentially reclaim the top spot as both squads will meet up at the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday.
At No. 4, Minnesota Duluth stayed put with a Griak title in the Division II race, but the Bulldogs were joined in the fourth spot by virtue of a tie with Chico State.
Breanna Colbenson finished third for UMD to lead three Bulldogs inside the top-11 – good enough to ward off No. 9 Northern Michigan by 10 points, 83-93. Notably, that runner-up reestablished Northern Michigan as a top-10 team after the Wildcats dropped from No. 8 to No. 20 just one week ago.
Chico State was by far the top NCAA DI team at the Stanford Invitational, led by 21st-place overall finisher Sadie Gastelum.
No. 6 Western State and No. 7 Alaska Anchorage both moved up one spot apiece as Augustana (S.D.) dropped two spots after finishing ninth at Griak with a short-handed squad.
The aforementioned Northern Michigan Wildcats moved up 11 spots from a week ago, displacing Bellarmine to No. 10 to round out the top ten.
Two new teams joined the poll this week in No. 23 U-Mary – led by National Athlete of the Week Alexis Zeis – and No. 24 UC San Diego.
The NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships will be held November 21 in Joplin, Missouri.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division II |
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Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll |
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2015 Week #3 — September 30 |
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| next release: October 7 | ||||||
| Rank | Institution (FPV) | Points | Region | Conference | Head Coach (Yr*) |
Last
Week |
| 1 | Hillsdale (4) | 196 | Midwest | GLIAC | Andrew Towne (5th) |
1
|
| 2 | Adams State (4) | 193 | South Central | RMAC | Damon Martin (28th) |
3
|
| 3 | Grand Valley State | 187 | Midwest | GLIAC | Jerry Baltes (17th) |
2
|
| 4 | Minnesota Duluth | 172 | Central | NSIC | Joanna Warmington (5th) |
4
|
| 4 | Chico State | 172 | West | CCAA | Gary Towne (20th) |
5
|
| 6 | Western State | 151 | South Central | RMAC | Jennifer Michel (9th) |
7
|
| 7 | Alaska Anchorage | 148 | West | GNAC | Michael Friess (26th) |
8
|
| 8 | Augustana (S.D.) | 138 | Central | NSIC | Tracy Hellman (15th) |
6
|
| 9 | Northern Michigan | 135 | Midwest | GLIAC | Jenny Ryan (9th) |
20
|
| 10 | Bellarmine | 131 | Midwest | GLVC | Kris Horton (11th) |
9
|
| 11 | Western Washington | 121 | West | GNAC | Pee Wee Halsell (29th) |
10
|
| 12 | Cal Baptist | 114 | West | PacWest | Ben Gall (4th) |
11
|
| 13 | Lewis | 104 | Midwest | GLVC | James Kearney (2nd) |
12
|
| 14 | UC-Colorado Springs | 95 | South Central | RMAC | Corey Kubatzky (1st) |
14
|
| 15 | Southern Indiana | 91 | Midwest | GLVC | Mike Hillyard (19th) |
13
|
| 16 | Stonehill | 75 | East | Northeast-10 | Karen Boen (18th) |
16
|
| 17 | Malone | 70 | Midwest | GLIAC | Jack Hazen (25th) |
15
|
| 18 | Edinboro | 61 | Atlantic | PSAC | Rick Hammer (3rd) |
16
|
| 19 | Seattle Pacific | 51 | West | GNAC | Karl Lerum (3rd) |
18
|
| 20 | Bloomsburg | 35 | Atlantic | PSAC | Bernie Empie (7th) |
21
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| 21 | UW-Parkside | 34 | Midwest | GLVC | Micah VanDenend (6th) |
24
|
| 22 | Dallas Baptist | 32 | South Central | Heartland Conference | Jacob Phillips (11th) |
22
|
| 23 | U-Mary | 29 | Central | NSIC | Dennis Newell (10th) |
RV
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| 24 | UC San Diego | 16 | West | CCAA | Nate Garcia (9th) |
RV
|
| 25 | Roberts Wesleyan | 10 | East | East Coast | Andrew/Jennifer Dorr (5th) |
23
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| Also Receiving Votes: Winona State 8, MSU Moorhead 7, Slippery Rock 5, Southwest Baptist 5, Colorado Mines 4, Cal Poly Pomona 4, Indianapolis 4, Cal State San Bernardino 2 | ||||||
| Dropped Out: No. 19 Winona State, No. 25 Cal State San Bernadino | ||||||
| (* year as head coach of that team in women’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed) | ||||||
