Northwest Christian (Ore.) Women Remain No. 1 In NAIA XC Top 25

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the third time this season, Northwest Christian (Ore.) is the No. 1 team in the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. Garnering all first-place votes and 529 total points, the Beacons remain as the top team for their third-straight poll this season.

The next regular season edition will be released Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Top 25 highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):

• For the ninth-straight poll, Northwest Christian (Ore.) is the No. 1 team in women’s cross country. This is the second-straight season the Beacons have started ranked No. 1. The defending national champions are looking to become only the fourth team to go the entire season ranked as the top team in the nation.   
• Northwest Christian continues its dominance, having been ranked now 29-straight polls in the top 10, with the last time it fell out being Sept. 18, 2013 as it dropped to No. 11. 
• The top four spots show no change as No. 2 Biola (Calif.), who placed third at last season’s national meet, remains in its place. No. 3 Aquinas (Mich.) and No. 4 The Master’s (Calif.) both stayed put in this week’s poll. The 2015 national runner-up, British Columbia crawled its way back into the top ten, coming in at No. 5 this edition.
• No. 5 British Columbia highlights the positive movement in this week’s installment, moving up eight spots. SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) found themselves moving up four spots to No. 16, while No. Westmont (Calif.), No. 13 Southern Oregon and No. 20 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) each slid up two spots from their previous ranking. No. 11 College of Idaho ends the positive movement after making a one spot jump. 
• On the negative movement side, No. 15 Dordt (Iowa) was pushed back 10 spots this week, and No. 12 Carroll (Mont.) and No. 22 St. Francis (Ill.) both fell back three places. Three teams only moved back one spot, with No. 17 Saint Xavier (Ill.), No. 18 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and No. 19 Indiana Wesleyan making small movements backwards. 
• Twelve of the 21 conference/Association of Independent Institutions are represented, with no new conferences showing representation in this week’s poll.
• This week, the Cascade Collegiate Conference leads all conferences for most programs in the poll with four schools. The Golden State Athletic Conference, Great Plains Athletic Conference and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference all bring three teams to the poll.  
• 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 18 No. 1 mentions. 
• Only three teams have previously gone the entire season ranked No. 1 – British Columbia (2013), Simon Fraser (2005, 2006 and 2007) and Northwest (2003).
• No. 18 Lewis-Clark State makes its 147th-consecutive appearance in the Top 25, the longest active streak in the NAIA dating back to Sept. 21, 2001.

Dropped from the Top 25: None

Others receiving votes: Madonna (Mich.) 72; Tennessee Wesleyan 65; William Jessup (Calif.) 48; Southeastern (Fla.) 32; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 30; Indiana Tech 29; Doane (Neb.) 25; Siena Heights (Mich.) 18; Marian (Ind.) 18; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 15; Point Park (Pa.) 8; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 7; Blue Mountain (Miss.) 5; Cornerstone (Mich.) 3.