Three-Time Defending Champ Johns Hopkins the Team to Beat in DIII Women’s Cross Country

NEW ORLEANS – For the third consecutive year, the Johns Hopkins women were tabbed as the preseason favorite in Division III Cross Country by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The three-time defending champ received seven of eight first-place votes in the poll released Wednesday.

MIT, the runner-up at least year’s national meet, earned the other first-place vote.

National PDFs: Preseason Top 30 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All Time
Regional Rankings: Preseason Summary | Preseason Recap

NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 4) Johns Hopkins MIT SUNY Geneseo St. Lawrence Washington (Mo.) View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

Arguing about Johns Hopkins’ merits might fall on deaf ears. The Blue Jays won the 2014 title going away (five runners inside the top 30) and return three of their five scorers including Sophia Meehan (sixth in 2014), Tess Mehan (24th) and Bridget Gottlieb (37th). Another national championship is definitely in the realm of possibility.

Like Johns Hopkins, MIT welcomes back three scorers and two others from last year’s national meet to bring them to an even five. The Beavers earned 273 points from the voters, just six points shy of the aforementioned Blue Jays.

SUNY Geneseo enters the season ranked third overall, its highest spot in the preseason poll since 2012 (also third). The Knights were fifth at 2014 NCAAs.

St. Lawrence and Washington (Mo.) are locked into a fourth-place tie and both have four of their five scorers from last year returning. Eighth-place finisher Cassia Hameline and Megan Kellogg (11th) are back for the former, while Washington (Mo.) returns five runners whom finished in the top 100 one year ago.

Also in the top 10 of the preseason poll are Middlebury (sixth), Williams (seventh), Calvin (eighth), Hope (ninth) and the University of Chicago (10th). Calvin has the strongest returning runner out of the group (Cassandra Vince was third overall last year), while Hope is the most interesting case having finished 23rd at 2014 NCAAs.

SUNY Oneonta is another surprise, jumping from 24th last year to a tie for 11th in the preseason poll. Claremond-Mudd-Scripps joins Oneonta at the ranking and they’re ahead of Wisconsin-La Crosse (first showing in the preseason poll since 2007), Carleton and Amherst in the top 15.

Of note, Oberlin went from finishing seventh at national to being left out of the poll completely. RIT (19th) and Case Western Reserve (20th) make their first ever appearance in the preseason poll.

The Division III Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, November 21 at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin.