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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Christian (Ore.) finds itself atop the seventh regular-season edition of the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The final regular-season poll will be released on No. 8. The NAIA Cross Country National Qualifiers will be announced on Monday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. CDT. 

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
• Northwest Christian is the unanimous No. 1 team after receiving all 20 first-place votes and a total of 560 points. This is the second time this season the Beacons are the unanimous No. 1. 
• Two newcomers join this week’s installment – No. 22 Texas Wesleyan and No. 23 Morningside (Iowa). 
• This marks the first time since Nov. 23, 2011 that Morningside cracks the Top 25. Texas Wesleyan is ranked for the first time since the preseason poll was conducted on Aug. 26, 2015. 
• The biggest positive movement within the Top 25 saw Oklahoma City move up seven spots from No. 20 to No. 13. 
• The Master’s (Calif.) had the biggest fall as it dropped four spots from No. 7 to No. 11. 
• Ten teams are ranked in the same spot they were last week. 
• Twelve of the 21 conferences are represented in the Top 25.
• The Cascade Collegiate Conference leads all leagues with four teams represented – Northwest Christian, No. 5 College of Idaho, No. 18 Southern Oregon and No. 21 Oregon Tech.
• The Golden State Athletic Conference, the Great Plains Athletic Conference and the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference have three teams represented each. 
• Former NAIA-member Simon Fraser (B.C.) has the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 40. Northwest (Wash.) leads all active NAIA schools with 17 No. 1 mentions. 
• Only three teams have gone the entire season ranked No. 1 – British Columbia (2013), former NAIA-member Simon Fraser (2005, 2006 and 2007) and Northwest (2003).
• No. 15 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) makes its 142nd-consecutive appearance in the Top 25, the longest active streak in the NAIA, dating back to Sept. 21, 2001. 

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

Dropped from the Top 25: Concordia (Neb.) (No. 22) and Siena Heights (Mich.) (No. 25)

Others receiving votes: Concordia (Neb.) 108; Siena Heights (Mich.) 89; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 68; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 52; Marian (Ind.) 33; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 32; Hastings (Neb.) 26; Southeastern (Fla.) 9; Corban (Ore.) 3.