Conference Championships Shake Up Final NCAA DII Regional Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – The dust has settled from an exceptional NCAA Division II cross country conference championships weekend, revealing a new-look final edition of the Regional Rankings announced Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

It was a weekend of redemption as five of the six new regional No. 1 squads reclaimed their top-ranked positions after having fallen earlier this season.

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They and every other team around the country will put their regional ranks on the line November 7 in the eight regional meets across the nation as qualifiers to the NCAA Championships on November 21 in Joplin, Missouri, are determined on the course.

Chief among those reinstated No. 1s were both genders’ three-time defending national champions, the Grand Valley State women and the Adams State men.

GVSU, boosted by the 2015 debut of reigning individual national champion Kendra Foley, edged national No. 1 Hillsdale at the GLIAC Championships, 30-38. The Lakers’ nation-best 15th consecutive league title boosted them back to No. 1 in the Midwest, while Hillsdale dropped to No. 2.

Also moving into qualifying position in the six-bid Midwest was No. 6 UW-Parkside. The Rangers were one of 12 teams this weekend that improved enough to line themselves up for one of their region’s allotted bids into the NCAA Championships.

National No. 4 Adams State’s men regained control of the South Central Region after defeating national No. 3 Colorado Mines, 36-52, to win the RMAC title. The Grizzlies put four in the top-10, led by runner-up Jackson Sayler.

Two more RMAC teams jumped into the NCAA Championships qualifying conversation from the six-bid South Central as Colorado Mesa moved up four spots to No. 5 and UC-Colorado Springs joined the rankings at No. 6.

The South Region was particularly upheaved this past weekend with new No. 1 teams for each gender. The eight-time defending region champion Tampa women moved back atop the South after toppling former No. 1 Saint Leo, 28-39, at the Sunshine State Conference Championships. The Lions fell to No. 3, as Gulf South champ West Alabama improved three spots to No. 2 in the three-bid South.

Saint Leo’s men, however, picked up the slack as they jumped atop the South rankings after a 28-38 victory over No. 3 Nova Southeastern. The Lions’ performance was enough to move them past former regional leader Lee (Tenn.), which fell to No. 2 despite winning the Gulf South.

After some early season questions, the defending East Region champion American International men have since availed themselves nicely. The Yellow Jackets claimed the Northeast-10 title, 48-72, over previous regional leader Stonehill. The Skyhawks fell to No. 2. Franklin Pierce was a close third at the NE-10 meet to climb a spot to No. 3 in the three-bid East.

The Edinboro women moved atop the Atlantic Region – up two spots from a week ago – with a victory at the PSAC Championships, but that is a race still very much up in the air (as most around the country still are). Each of the region’s ten ranked teams are from the PSAC, and the Fighting Scots emerged with a closely fought 90-102-11-125 victory over East Stroudsburg, Shippensburg, California (Pa.) and Bloomsburg.

Notably, East Stroudsburg rose four spots from last time to move to No. 2 in the three-bid Atlantic.

Also making advances into qualifying position were the No. 3 Southwest Baptist men and No. 5 Southwest Baptist women in the five-bid Central, the No. 3 Daemen women in the three-bid East, the No. 3 Queens (N.C.) women in the three-bid Southeast, the No. 5 UC San Diego women in the five-bid West, and the No. 4 Cal Baptist men in the four-bid West.

Joining the men’s rankings this week were: Bloomsburg and Mansfield (Atlantic), MSU Moorhead (Central), Molloy (East), Bellarmine (Midwest), Shorter (South), UC-Colorado Springs and Oklahoma Christian (South Central), King (Southeast) and Academy of Art (West).

New to the women’s rankings were: Northern State (Central), Bentley and Nyack (East), North Alabama and West Georgia (South), Tarleton State and Colorado Christian (South Central), Young Harris (Southeast), and Central Washington (West).

NCAA Division II Regional Championships will be held around the country on Saturday, November 7 with the NCAA Championships happening two weeks later in Joplin, Missouri, on November 21..

USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning teams’ strength with current season results in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.