One No. 1 Falls in DIII National Coaches’ Poll

NEW ORLEANS – For the first time in the past 12 weeks, there is a new No. 1 team in NCAA Division III Cross Country, according to the National Coaches’ Poll released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Since Week 2 in 2014, North Central (Ill.) and Johns Hopkins maintained their prestigious rankings in the men’s and women’s polls. Not much changed through the first four polls of the 2015 season as the reigning national champions held their ground.

National PDFs: Week 4 Top 35 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All Time
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NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-Eau Claire North Central (Ill.) St. Olaf Amherst Washington (Mo.) View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll   NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Johns Hopkins Williams Tufts MIT Washington (Mo.) View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

Then this past weekend, UW-Eau Claire’s men took down two top-10 teams in head-to-head competition – then-No. 2 St. Olaf and then-No. 8 UW-La Crosse – and the voters took notice. Voters strapped a rocket to the Blugolds’ back and sent them from No. 6 to No. 1 in the men’s poll, giving them their first No. 1 ranking in program history.

UW-Eau Claire appeared to hit its stride last Friday at its own Blugold Invitational. The Blugolds welcomed junior Josh Thorson back to the lineup and put four runners inside the top-15 (Thorson finished third in 24:33.3). UW-Eau Claire took the team title by a comfortable margin, beating the Oles by 15 points (45-60) and the Eagles by 41 (45-86).

North Central (Ill.) slid down a spot to No. 2 after a runner-up showing in the Gold race at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational. The Cardinals’ Zach Plank won the individual title (24:30 8K), but he only had one other teammate with him in the top-10 (Ethan Adlfinger, 10th) and they finished second behind DI Clemson.

It’s hard not to be impressed with the run North Central (Ill.) has been on in DIII. This is just the third time in the past 24 weeks – and only the seventh time in the past 62 weeks – that the Cardinals aren’t No. 1.

With the Blugolds at No. 1, though, there was a domino effect. As just mentioned, North Central (Ill.) dropped to No. 2. The Cardinals are followed by No. 3 St. Olaf, No. 4 Amherst and No. 5 Washington (Mo.) in the top-5.

Geneseo State climbed two spots from No. 8 to No. 6 after winning the Mike Woods Invitational. This is the Knights’ higest national rank since they were No. 5 in 2012.

Two of the biggest movers already in the men’s poll were Haverford (No. 16 to No. 9) and Allegheny (Pa.), a team that jumped from No. 27 to No. 17. Both the Fords and Gators fared well at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh.

Counting unranked teams, Wesleyan (Conn.) had a monumental leap. The Cardinals returned to the top-35 for the first time since 2006 thanks to a fourth-place finish in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania last Friday. Wesleyan (Conn.) is ranked No. 21.

John Carroll and Williamette are also both new to the men’s poll this week.

Over in the women’s poll, the top-3 teams this week all raced in the Paul Short Run last Friday – Johns Hopkins, Williams and new-No. 3 Tufts. The Blue Jays were the top finishing DIII team (third), while the Jumbos and Ephs were second (16th) and third (17th), respectively. Tufts went from No. 13 one week ago to No. 3 this week and seized its highest billing since 2006.

A handful of teams moved up seven or more slots, just like the Jumbos. Otterbein surged from No. 28 to No. 16 after a strong performance at the All-Ohio Cross Country Championships. Whitworth also jumped 12 spots (No. 33 to No. 21), while Brandeis (No. 30 to No. 22) and RPI (No. 27 to No. 20) trended upward as well.

There are three teams making their debut in this week’s poll – No. 19 Swarthmore, No. 27 Keene State and No. 33 SUNY Cortland. All three of those teams appeared in the polls at some point last season.

A lot of these teams should square off against one another come next weekend at the Brooks AAE Invitational in Winnecone, Wisconsin, which will also serve as DIII Pre-Nationals. That will just be an appetizer as the main dish (NCAA Division III National Championships) will be held on those same course on November 21.