Movement in Men’s and Women’s DIII National Coaches’ Poll

NEW ORLEANS – There were 20 teams from both the men’s and women’s NCAA Division III Cross Country National Coaches’ Polls in action this past weekend.

With that much action happening around the nation, it should come as no surprise that there would be some changes in this week’s rankings released Wednesday afternoon by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

National PDFs: Week 3 Top 35 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All Time
Regional Rankings: Week 3 Summary | Week 3 Recap
Division III Rankings/Polls Homepage: Link

NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) North Central (Ill.) St. Olaf Amherst Washington (Mo.) Williams View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll   NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Johns Hopkins Williams MIT Washington (Mo.) Middlebury View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

Reigning national champions North Central (Ill.) and Johns Hopkins are still the teams to beat. The Cardinals and Blue Jays remained as the unanimous favorites for the third consecutive week. North Central (Ill.) used an abbreviated team to place second at the College of DuPage Invitational, while Johns Hopkins didn’t race this past weekend.

One of the biggest meets last Saturday was the Purple Valley Classic in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where there were five ranked men’s and women’s teams on each side. The women’s race provided the most fireworks with four of those five teams in the top-10 and the aftermath showed how important the meet was in the voters’ eyes.

The Williams women won the team title going away (39 points) and jumped from sixth to second in the national poll. Middlebury placed second and went from seventh to fifth. MIT dropped one spot to third after a third-place finish and Geneseo State (fourth) fell three spots to sixth.

On the men’s side, Amherst – who won the Purple Valley Classic – is locked in at No. 3 behind the Cardinals and St. Olaf College. Williams and Geneseo State, the second- and third-place teams, jumped three spots (eighth to fifth) and eight spots (16th to eighth), respectively. MIT tumbled six ranks (sixth to 12th) after a fourth-place finish.

Another meet that opened some eyes was that of the Brissman/Lundeen Invitational. There were an astounding 603 runners from 51 teams entered in the men’s race. Two DIII teams stood out – Wartburg College and Augustana (Ill.) – and voters took heed. Wartburg and Augustana (Ill.) both went from unranked to the top-25 (22nd and 24th, respectively). They finished second and third behind meet champion Illinois.

Back to the women’s poll, Colby and St. Olaf College worked their way back up the poll. Colby finished second at the Bowdoin Invitational and moved up 11 spots (No. 34 to No. 23), while St. Olaf was runner-up at the Griak Invitational and improved seven slots.

Three women’s teams made their debut in Week 3 – No. 25 Haverford, No. 30 Brandeis and No. 34 Misericordia. This is Misericordia’s first time in the national poll.

All of these teams and more will try to fight their way into the field at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships held November 21 in Winneconne, Wisconsin.