Up-and-Coming Team Continues Its Top-Five Rise in NCAA DII Women’s National Poll

Up-and-Coming Team Continues Its Top-Five Rise in NCAA DII Women’s National Poll

NEW ORLEANS – With two individual national champions in the past three seasons, U-Mary has stood atop the individual podium at the NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country Championships quite frequently of late.

Based on the newest National Coaches’ Poll, the Marauder women just might be making a run at both the individual and team podiums in 2016.

National PDFs: Top 25 Summary | Week-by-Week 2016 | Week-by-Week All-Time
Regional Rankings PDFs: Regional Rankings Summary | Rankings Recap

Division II XC Polls/Rankings Central | MEN’S POLL

NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll Top 5 – Women

1)Grand Valley State 2)Adams State 3)Adams State 4)Augustana (S.D.) 5)Minnesota Duluth
GVSU Adams State Chico State U-Mary Western State
View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

Led by reigning national champion and National Athlete of the Week Alexis Zeis, U-Mary moved up one spot to an all-time program-best No. 4 in the latest National Coaches’ Poll announced Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Preseason favorite Grand Valley State maintained its No. 1 status with six first-place votes, with defending national champion Adams State checking in at No. 2 with the remaining pair of first-place nods. No. 3 Chico State, No. 4 U-Mary and No. 5 Western State rounded out the top one-fifth of the top-25.

For U-Mary, that No. 4 position holds some significant meaning; the top four squads are the ones who leave the NCAA Division II National Championships in Saint Leo, Florida, on November 19 with team trophies.

The closest U-Mary has been? Fifth, all the way back in 2011, when it came up just 11 points shy of the hardware.

While glory at Saint Leo is still but a distant goal, the Marauders certainly showed promise at the MSU-Moorhead Dragon Twilight. Zeis won the 4K race (remember, championships distance is 6K) in 13:12.3 to win by no fewer than 12 seconds over a handful of past All-Americans from No. 10 Minnesota Duluth, while her teammates packed up to give the Marauders six in the top 10.

Top-ranked GVSU will get its chance for a strong debut this weekend at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational.

No. 2 Adams State won its home opener this past weekend with a perfect score of 15, led by overall winner Jenna Thurman of Adams State.

Chico State faced a stiffer challenge at the Humboldt State Invitational, fending off No. 24 Seattle Pacific, 40-55. The Wildcats put three in the top six and all seven of its top runners in the top-15.

Western State finished fifth behind four DI schools at the Colorado State Invitational, led by 10th-place finisher Georgia Porter.

No. 6 Alaska Anchorage, No. 7 Hillsdale, No. 8 Southern Indiana, No. 9 Northern Michigan and a tie at No. 10 between Minnesota Duluth and Western Washington rounded out the top-10.

Among all top-25 teams for both genders, no squad moved up farther from the preseason than did the No. 14 Cedarville women. The Yellowjackets finished as the runner-up at the Queen City Invitational behind DI Cincinnati to move up 11 spots to a new program-best rank.

No. 17 Dallas Baptist also made a big move, jumping up four spots after winning its home Patriot Invitational with a score of 17. The rank is DBU’s highest since entering the NCAA Championships ranked 13th in 2009.

New to the poll this week was Winona State, which entered in a tie with Montevallo at No. 18.

The full women’s poll can be found below.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division II

Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll

2016 Week #1 — September 14

next release: September 21
Rank Institution (FPV) Points Region (CR) Conference Head Coach (Yr*)
Last
Week
1 Grand Valley State (6) 198 Midwest (1) GLIAC Jerry Baltes (18th)
1
2 Adams State (2) 194 South Central (1) RMAC Damon Martin (29th)
2
3 Chico State 177 West (1) CCAA Gary Towne (21st)
3
4 U-Mary 175 Central (1) NSIC Dennis Newell (11th)
5
5 Western State 171 South Central (2) RMAC Jennifer Michel (10th)
4
6 Alaska Anchorage 154 West (2) GNAC Michael Friess (27th)
6
7 Hillsdale 153 Midwest (2) GLIAC Andrew Towne (6th)
7
8 Southern Indiana 141 Midwest (3) GLVC Mike Hillyard (20th)
10
9 Northern Michigan 132 Midwest (4) GLIAC Jenny Ryan (10th)
8
10 Western Washington 130 West (3) GNAC Pee Wee Halsell (30th)
9
10 Minnesota Duluth 130 Central (2) NSIC Joanna Warmington (6th)
11
12 Augustana (S.D.) 112 Central (3) NSIC Tracy Hellman (16th)
12
13 Stonehill 106 East (1) Northeast-10 Karen Boen (19th)
13
14 Cedarville 85 Midwest (5) G-MAC Jeff Bolender (7th)
25
15 Cal Baptist 75 West (4) PacWest Ben Gall (5th)
17
16 Lewis 69 Midwest (6) GLVC James Kearney (3rd)
14
17 Dallas Baptist 62 South Central (3) Heartland Jacob Phillips (12th)
21
18 Winona State 55 Central (4) NSIC Brett Ayers (4th)
NR
18 Montevallo 55 Southeast (1) Peach Belt Julia Marquardt (4th)
19
20 Shippensburg 54 Atlantic (1) PSAC Steve Spence (19th)
17
21 Simon Fraser 46 West (5) GNAC Brit Townsend (17th)
20
22 Colorado Mines 34 South Central (4) RMAC Chris Siemers (5th)
24
23 UW-Parkside 33 Midwest (7) GLVC Thomas Breitbach (1st)
15
24 Seattle Pacific 22 West (6) GNAC Karl Lerum (4th)
23
25 Fort Lewis 11 South Central (5) RMAC Mark Dutro (5th)
16
Also Receiving Votes: Southwest Baptist 10, Bloomsburg 8, Saint Leo 5, Assumption 2, UC San Diego 1
Dropped Out: No. 22 Southwest Baptist, No. 25 Tampa
(* year as head coach of that team in women’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)

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USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

Preseason - October 23rd

RANK TEAM & INFOPTS-1
FINAL


Week-by-Week Ranking

TeamPreseasonWeek #1Week #2Week #3Week #4
Iowa State11111
Oklahoma State33222
New Mexico22333
Virginia66444
Colorado1313555
Syracuse121211116
Northern Arizona141414137
BYU44668
Alabama1111888
Oregon910121410
Washington State2218232111
Wake Forest109101012
Michigan State3027171613
Butler1515131214
Wisconsin557715
Notre Dame889916
California Baptist1516151517
Tulane2523181718
Princeton1920222019
GeorgiaRVRV20
Harvard2425292821
MissouriRV201922
Air Force2324252323
North Carolina181916RV23
MichiganRVRVRVRV25
Ole Miss2725272426
Stanford67211827
Virginia TechRVRV27
Oklahoma29RVRVRV29
Georgetown2830282430
Tulsa26293027RV
Loyola-Chicago30RV
GonzagaRVRVRV
TexasRV
Texas A&MRV
Arkansas20211922
Eastern Kentucky17172626
Boise StateRVRVRV29
VillanovaRVRVRVRV
WyomingRVRVRV
Middle TennesseeRV
Utah StateRV
MinnesotaRV
LouisvilleRV
Washington212224
Furman3028RV
LipscombRV
PortlandRVRV
TennesseeRVRV
IonaRV
Weber StateRV
CharlotteRV

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Cross Country

2016 Rankings & Polls Calendar
Weeks Regional RankingsNational Coaches' Poll KEY DATES
PreseasonMon 8/29
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 8/30
MEN | WOMEN
Week 1Mon 9/12
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 9/13
MEN | WOMEN
Week 2Mon 9/19
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 9/20
MEN | WOMEN
Week 3Mon 9/26
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 9/27
MEN | WOMEN
Week 4Mon 10/3
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 10/4
MEN | WOMEN
Week 5Mon 10/17
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 10/18
MEN | WOMEN
Week 6Mon 10/31
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 11/1
MEN | WOMEN
Week 7Mon 11/14
MEN | WOMEN
FINAL Results
(official final ranking)
Fri 11/11
MEN | WOMEN
Sat 11/19
MEN | WOMEN