NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Week 7

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the seventh-straight week, Southern Oregon finds itself on top of the NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The final regular-season poll will be released on Sunday, Nov. 8 by 7:00 p.m. CDT. The NAIA Cross Country National Championship qualifiers will be announced on Monday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. CDT. 

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
• Southern Oregon is No. 1 after receiving nine of the 19 possible first-place votes and 520 total points. The Raiders hold their seventh-straight No. 1 position. 
• No. 2 Oklahoma City received eight first-place votes and 512 total points. 
• No. 3 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (501 points) and No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan (450 points) received one first-place vote each. 
• Westmont (Calif.) had the biggest jump in the Top 25 as it moved up nine spots from No. 25 to No. 16.
• No. 4 Saint Mary (Kan.) cracks the top 5 for the first time in school history.
• The biggest fall in the Top 25 was Indiana Tech as the Warriors dropped eight positions from No. 12 to No. 20.
• Three new teams joined this week’s installment – No. 7 British Columbia, No. 24 Northwestern (Iowa) and No. 25 Saint Xavier (Ill.)
• This the first time since the 2013 postseason poll that Saint Xavier is in the Top 25. 
• Both British Columbia and Northwestern were ranked earlier this season. The Thunderbirds were last ranked on Oct. 14 and the Red Raiders were last ranked on Sept. 23. 
• Southern Oregon looks to join Oklahoma City (2014) and former NAIA-member Malone (Ohio) (2007 & 2008) as the only teams to go the entire season ranked No. 1. 
• Southern Oregon has been in the top 10 in 18-straight polls, dating back to the 2014 Preseason Top 25 Poll.
• No. 13 Aquinas (Mich.) extends its streak of being ranked in the Top 25 poll to a NAIA-best 153-consecutive polls, dating back to Aug. 22, 2000.
• Southern Oregon has tied former-member Malone for the most No. 1 rankings with 38. The 38 No. 1 rankings for Southern Oregon is the most of all current NAIA schools. 
• Six schools have been ranked in the top 10 all season – Southern Oregon, Lewis-Clark State, No. 6 Carroll (Mont.), No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan No. 8 St. Francis (Ill.) and No. 10 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.).
• Thirteen of the 21 conferences/Association of Independent Institutions are represented in the Top 25. The Crossroads League leads all leagues with four teams represented. The Cascade Collegiate Conference, Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference each have three teams in the poll. 
• For the complete ratings calendar, click here. 

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 Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 7 (Oct. 28)

Dropped from the Top 25: Texas Wesleyan (No. 14), Oregon Tech (No. 22), Dordt (Iowa) (No. 23) Bacone (Okla.) (No. 25).

Others receiving votes: Texas Wesleyan 105; Biola (Calif.) 96; Dordt (Iowa) 86; Shawnee State (Ohio) 56; Bacone (Okla.) 45; Cornerstone (Mich.) 38; Oregon Tech 27; Dickinson State (N.D.) 20; Campbellsville (Ky.) 9; Concordia (Neb.) 7.