Clear-Cut Favorites Develop In NJCAA DI XC Coaches’ Polls

NEW ORLEANS — A few weeks after the NJCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches’ Polls underwent some major changes, things settled down as best as they could.

While there is still a good bit of movement in the respective top-25s of the men’s and women’s polls, nothing dramatic happened in the most recent polls that were released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA).

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We have clear-cut favorites in the men’s and women’s polls as Iowa Central broke away from the field. The Triton men earned all 10 first-place votes, making them an unanimous selection. The women from Iowa Central are still sharing first-place votes with three other programs, but their seven give them a commanding lead.

Since the last poll, both Triton teams competed and stood out at the Chile Pepper Festival, hosted by Arkansas. Iowa Central’s men took fourth place in the men’s non-DI race, going 4-14-16-25 with its top-4 runners (Omer Along led the way). The Triton women placed fifth as a team in the non-DI race and were once again led by Leanne Pompeani.

In the men’s poll, only three of the 25 teams remained in place from the previous poll. Iowa Central was one of them, second-ranked Central Arizona was the second and 16th-ranked Glendale (Ariz.) rounded out that trio.

The biggest gainers in the men’s poll were Cloud County CC and Pima CC.

Cloud County jumped seven spots from No. 22 to No. 15 following a 20th-place team finish in the non-DI race. Two-time NJCAA National Athlete of the Week honoree Moses Dirane led the way with a third-place individual finish.

Pima CC went from No. 25 to No. 19 two weeks after finishing fourth at the ACCAC Conference Championships. David Fernandez had a strong showing for the Aztecs as he finished seventh in the tightly-contested 4.97-mile race.

In the women’s poll, first-place votes also went to El Paso CC, Lansing CC and Central Arizona. The Vaqueras moved into a tie for third place in the poll with Lansing CC.

Regardless of poll, the biggest mover this week was the Paradise Valley CC women. The Pumas went from not being ranked at all to No. 10.

Overall, there were four new teams to the polls in addition to the Pumas: the No. 25 Spartanburg Methodist men, the No. 21 Muskegon CC women, the No. 23 Barton County women an the No. 25 Louisburg women.

The 2016 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held November 12 in El Dorado, Kansas.