Big Changes To Both NJCAA DI XC National Coaches’ Polls in Week 2
NEW ORLEANS — From week to week, a lot can change in the NJCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches’ Polls.
Don’t believe that statement? Let’s compare and contrast the top-5s from both the men’s and women’s National Coaches’ Poll in Week 1 and Week 2.
NATIONAL PDFs: National Summary | 2016 Week By Week | All-Time Week By Week
QUICK LINKS: Men’s National Coaches’ Poll | Women’s National Coaches’ Poll
New polls are released just about every Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Let’s take a look at the top-5s in last week’s polls with their corresponding points and first-place votes.
|
Men
|
Women
|
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|
Team
|
Points
|
FPV
|
Team
|
Points
|
FPV
|
|
|
Iowa Central
|
197
|
7
|
Lansing CC
|
198
|
8
|
|
|
South Plains
|
187
|
2
|
Iowa Central
|
185
|
0
|
|
|
Lansing CC
|
174
|
1
|
Mesa CC
|
182
|
2
|
|
|
Gillette
|
162
|
0
|
El Paso CC
|
161
|
0
|
|
|
Butler (Kan.)
|
149
|
0
|
Gillette
|
160
|
0
|
|
How about this week?
|
Men
|
Women
|
|||||
|
Team
|
Points
|
FPV
|
Team
|
Points
|
FPV
|
|
|
Iowa Central
|
196
|
6
|
Iowa Central
|
187
|
2
|
|
|
Central Arizona
|
194
|
4
|
El Paso CC
|
187
|
4
|
|
|
Gillette
|
163
|
0
|
Lansing CC
|
181
|
4
|
|
|
South Plains
|
162
|
0
|
Central Arizona
|
170
|
0
|
|
|
Butler (Kan.)
|
149
|
0
|
Mesa CC
|
160
|
0
|
|
The first thing you probably noticed in the men’s poll is the arrival of Central Arizona. The Vaqueros turned the UC Riverside Invitational into their own personal playground. Central Arizona finished eighth in the team standings against a wealth of teams from each of the three NCAA divisions. The Vaqueros were led by 2015 NJCAA DI XC individual champ Gilbert Kigen, who won the meet after covering the 8K course in 23:37.9 for a 15-second win.
Over in the women’s poll, first-place votes from previous-No. 1 Lansing CC and Mesa CC were spread out amongst Iowa Central and El Paso CC. That led the Tritons to tying El Paso CC for the No. 1 spot and Lansing to falling to third.
This past weekend Iowa Central stood out at the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational hosted by Nebraska. The Tritons, led by meet champion Leanne Pompeani, won the Gold scored race over Colorado College and Nebraska-Kearney. It should be noted that Iowa Central had two runners inside the overall top-10 (Pompeani – 1st, Agnes Mansaray – 5th).
El Paso CC ran extremely well at the Kachina Classic Open this past weekend in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Rose Jebet led the Tejanas with a fifth-place finish, while Kelli Kirkpatrick (8th) and Shalet Mitei (10th) also finished in the top-10.
Outside of Central Arizona’s rise, the biggest gainer this week belonged to the women’s poll where Colby (Kan.) went from No. 23 to No. 14.
Three new teams were welcomed to the poll on the men’s side: Meridian CC, Colby (Kan.) and Pima CC. Four were welcomed to the poll on the women’s side: NMMI, Mott CC, Morton and the aforementioned Pima CC.
The 2016 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held November 12 in El Dorado, Kansas.
USTFCCCA NJCAA Division I |
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Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll |
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2016 Week #2 — September 21 |
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| next release: October 5 | ||||||
| Rank | Institution (FPV) | Points | Location | Region | Head Coach (Yr) |
Last
Week |
| 1 | Iowa Central CC (6) | 196 | Fort Dodge, Iowa | Midwest | Dee Brown (13th) |
1
|
| 2 | Central Arizona (4) | 194 | Coolidge, Ariz. | West | Paul Tavares |
NR
|
| 3 | Gillette | 163 | Gillette, Wyo. | Midwest | Chris Kozlowski (9th) |
4
|
| 4 | South Plains | 162 | Levelland, Texas | West | Erik Vance (1st) |
2
|
| 5 | Butler (Kan.) CC | 149 | El Dorado, Kan. | Central | Ryan Turner (3rd) |
5
|
| 6 | Allen CC | 147 | Iola, Kan. | Central | Vince DeGrado (6th) |
7
|
| 7 | Lansing CC | 144 | Lansing, Mich. | Great Lakes | Jim Robinson (8th) |
3
|
| 8 | Louisburg | 129 | Louisburg, N.C. | Atlantic | Jay Koloseus (3rd) |
6
|
| 9 | Mesa CC | 116 | Mesa, Ariz. | West | Dan Pescador (2nd) |
9
|
| 10 | North Iowa Area CC | 105 | Mason City, Iowa | Midwest | Curtis Vais (13th) |
8
|
| 11 | Highland (Kan.) CC | 102 | Highland, Kan. | Central | Chad Clevenger (7th) |
10
|
| 12 | Grand Rapids CC | 89 | Grand Rapids, Mich. | Great Lakes | Matt Sicilla (3rd) |
11
|
| 13 | El Paso CC | 73 | El Paso, Texas | West | Felix Hinojosa (17th) |
17
|
| 13 | Cowley County CC | 73 | Arkansas City, Kan. | Central | Dan Adler (1st) |
14
|
| 15 | Ranger | 47 | Ranger, Texas | West | Kathy Graham (2nd) |
15
|
| 16 | Glendale (Ariz.) CC | 46 | Glendale, Ariz. | West | Randy Espinoza (30th) |
12
|
| 17 | Vincennes | 40 | Vincennes, Ind. | Great Lakes | Chris Gafner (12th) |
18
|
| 18 | Iowa Western CC | 30 | Council Bluffs, Iowa | Midwest | Emmett Statzer (10th) |
13
|
| 19 | Muskegon CC | 20 | Muskegon, Mich. | Great Lakes | Dan Fishel (5th) |
16
|
| 20 | Johnson County CC | 19 | Overland Park, Kan. | Central | Mike Bloemker (19th) |
19
|
| 21 | Trinidad State | 14 | Trinidad, Colo. | West | Lauren Martin (1st) |
20
|
| 22 | Cloud County CC | 11 | Concordia, Kan. | Central | Drew Mahin (4th) |
21
|
| 23 | Meridian CC | 9 | Meridian, Miss. | Central | Chip Gayden (4th) |
NR
|
| 25 | Monroe | 5 | Bronx, N.Y. | Atlantic | Shirvon Greene (2nd) |
24
|
| 25 | Pima CC | 5 | Tucson, Ariz. | West | Greg Wenneborg (12th) |
NR
|
| Also Receiving Votes: Hutchinson CC | ||||||
| Dropped Out: No. 22 Danville Area CC, No. 23 DuPage, No. 25 Indian Hills CC | ||||||
USTFCCCA NJCAA Division I |
||||||
Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll |
||||||
2016 Week #2 — September 21 |
||||||
| next release: October 5 | ||||||
| Rank | Institution (FPV) | Points | Location | Region | Head Coach (Yr*) |
Last
Week |
| 1 | Iowa Central CC (2) | 187 | Fort Dodge, Iowa | Midwest | Dee Brown (13th) |
2
|
| 1 | El Paso CC (4) | 187 | El Paso, Texas | West | Felix Hinojosa (17th) |
4
|
| 3 | Lansing CC (4) | 181 | Lansing, Mich. | Great Lakes | Jim Robinson (8th) |
1
|
| 4 | Central Arizona | 170 | Coolidge, Ariz. | West | Paul Tavares |
NR
|
| 5 | Mesa CC | 162 | Mesa, Ariz. | West | Dan Pescador (2nd) |
3
|
| 6 | Cowley County CC | 151 | Arkansas City, Kan. | Central | Dan Adler (1st) |
6
|
| 7 | Gillette | 143 | Gillette, Wyo. | Midwest | Chris Kozlowski (9th) |
5
|
| 8 | Allen CC | 134 | Iola, Kan. | Central | Vince DeGrado (6th) |
7
|
| 9 | Vincennes | 122 | Vincennes, Ind. | Great Lakes | Chris Gafner (12th) |
8
|
| 10 | South Plains | 101 | Levelland, Texas | West | Erik Vance (1st) |
10
|
| 11 | Butler (Kan.) CC | 89 | El Dorado, Kan. | Central | Ryan Turner (3rd) |
12
|
| 12 | Johnson County CC | 74 | Overland Park, Kan. | Central | Mike Bloemker (19th) |
13
|
| 13 | Cuyahoga CC | 65 | Cleveland, Ohio | Great Lakes | Don Cox (25th) |
14
|
| 14 | Colby (Kan.) CC | 63 | Colby, Kan. | Central | Cameron Rieth (2nd) |
23
|
| 15 | Iowa Western CC | 48 | Council Bluffs, Iowa | Midwest | Emmett Statzer (10th) |
9
|
| 15 | Dodge City CC | 48 | Dodge City, Kan. | Central | Cole Ballard (4th) |
11
|
| 17 | Trinidad State | 29 | Trinidad, Colo. | West | Lauren Martin (1st) |
15
|
| 17 | Monroe | 29 | Bronx, N.Y. | Atlantic | Shirvon Greene (2nd) |
17
|
| 19 | Ranger | 26 | Ranger, Texas | West | Kathy Graham (2nd) |
19
|
| 20 | Macomb CC | 24 | Warren, Mich. | Great Lakes | Kim Renas (4th) |
20
|
| 21 | Highland (Kan.) CC | 23 | Highland, Kan. | Central | Tom Bond (9th) |
16
|
| 22 | DuPage | 21 | Glen Ellyn, Ill. | Midwest | Matt Wilhite (8th) |
18
|
| 25 | North Iowa Area CC | 2 | Mason City, Iowa | Midwest | Curtis Vais (13th) |
21
|
| 25 | Morton | 2 | Cicero, Ill. | Midwest | Gus Coronado (17th) |
NR
|
| 25 | Pima CC | 2 | Tucson, Ariz. | West | Greg Wenneborg (12th) |
RV
|
| Also Receiving Votes: Pima CC, Indian Hills CC, Carl Sandburg, NMMI, Mott CC | ||||||
| Dropped Out: No. 24 Muskegon CC, No. 25 Louisburg | ||||||
