GVSU Women Earn Unanimous Preseason No. 1 Rank in NCAA DII Cross Country

NEW ORLEANS – For three consecutive years and four of the past five, the Grand Valley State women have been the class of NCAA Division II women’s cross country.

That trend is expected to continue into 2015, as the Lakers were voted the unanimous No. 1 team in the preseason National Coaches’ Poll released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). This marks the 18th consecutive poll topped by head coach Jerry Baltes’ Lakers.

All eight first-place votes ended up in Allendale, Michigan, as GVSU will look to look to become the first women’s team to win four consecutive national titles since Adams State reeled off seven-in-a-row from 2003 through 2009.

National Coaches’ Poll PDFs: Top 25 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All-Time

Regional Rankings PDFs: Regional Rankings Summary | Rankings Recap

Division II XC Polls/Rankings Central

MEN’S PRESEASON POLL

NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) GVSU Hillsdale Adams State Minnesota Duluth Augustana (S.D.) View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

Rounding out the top five in the poll were No. 2 Hillsdale, No. 3 Adams State, No. 4 Minnesota Duluth and No. 5 Augustana (S.D.).

The Lakers swept the top three individual finishes at the 2014 NCAA Championships – a feat never before accomplished by an NCAA DII women’s team champion – and returns two-thirds of that dynamic trio. Reigning national champion Kendra Foley returns for her junior season, while three-time top-10 finisher Jessica Janecke is back for one final campaign after last year’s third-place effort.

Overall, the Lakers return three of their five scorers from a year ago. Jordan Chester (34th) and Amy Cruetz (37th) are both returning All-Americans, while Kelly Haubert just missed that top-40 standard in 53rd as the Lakers’ seventh and final runner.

If GVSU is to make it four consecutive national titles and five of the past six in Joplin, Missouri, this November, it’ll have to hold off a very familiar foe: GLIAC rival No. 2 Hillsdale.

The Chargers return nearly everyone – all five scorers and six of seven total – from last year’s runner-up squad, including Foley’s greatest challenger in Emily Oren. The senior won four national titles on the track in 2015, blazing to all-time performances in nearly every event she contested. Time will tell if that momentum carries over from the track to the trails.

It wasn’t 12th-place Oren who led the Chargers at NCAAs last fall, however. That would be seventh-place Kristina Galat, the national indoor runner-up at both 3000 and 5000 meters. Galat and Oren are two of the four All-Americans back for Hillsdale, alongside Emily’s younger sister Molly Oren (23rd) and Hannah McIntyre (24th).

GVSU and Hillsdale will see each other at the GLIAC Championships in October, joined by three more top-25 teams. The GLIAC’s five is tied with the RMAC for the most by a conference.

Hillsdale is followed closely in the polls by the two teams it narrowly edged for runner-up honors a year ago in Adams State and Minnesota Duluth. Hillsdale posted 115 points to UMD’s 118 and Adams State’s 125.

Adams State returns a pair of top-10 returners in Jenna Thurman (8th) and Maura O’Brien (9th) and another All-American in Rachel Kresl (29th).

Minnesota Duluth is back with three All-Americans, including top-20 finisher Emilee Trost (18th).

No. 5 Augustana returns a pair of All-Americans in Leah Seivert (10th) and Annie Kruse (36th).

Completing the top 10 were No. 6 Western State, No. 7 Chico State, No. 8 Simon Fraser, No. 9 Northern Michigan, and No. 10 Alaska Anchorage.

Western State (16th in 2014) and Chico (13th) join the top-10 after double-digit finishes in 2014, while Northern Michigan is among the top 10 after missing NCAAs a year ago from a cutthroat Midwest Region that featured seven top-25 teams but was only permitted four to NCAAs based on qualifying criteria. This is NMU’s first single-digit rank since 2005.

The Midwest is once again shaping up to be challenging with seven top-25 teams and an eighth receiving votes all vying for just six NCAA bids.

Northern Michigan is just one of six women’s teams projected among the top-25 that did not qualify to the NCAA Championships a year ago. That list includes No. 12 Southern Indiana, No. 13 Southwest Baptist, No. 14 Cal Baptist, No. 16 Lewis, and No. 20 CSU-Pueblo.

Southwest Baptist ties is program-best rank, and is just shy of its 12th-place 2013 NCAA Championships finish – the lone appearance in program history.

This is the first appearance in the polls for CSU-Pueblo.

The NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, November 21, in Joplin, Missouri.