2017 NCAA DII Cross Country Women’s National Coaches’ Poll – Week 2
NEW ORLEANS – Ever heard of the saying “the rich get richer?”
That can be applied to Grand Valley State this week.
Despite already being ranked first, the Lakers gained a little bit of ground in the newest NCAA Division II Cross Country Women’s National Coaches’ Poll, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday, as the Lakers now own all eight first-place votes.
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The Lakers put together an impressive performance at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational this past weekend, finishing ahead of eight other NCAA Division II teams, as well as four NCAA Division I teams. Gina Patterson led the way for the Lakers, finishing 12th overall (and third by an NCAA Division II athlete) with a time of 11:43.7.
Adams State remained in second, but did lose their two first-place votes, after placing third at the Mountaineer/Cowboy Invite. Desire Montenegro paced the Grizzlies with a time of 19:34.0, good for fifth overall. Also at the Mountaineer/Cowboy Invite was Western State, who pulled off the victory with all seven performers finishing within the top-10. Aneta Konieczek won the meet with a finish of 18:47.0, helping to keep the Wildcats in third place in the polls.
Following the three aforementioned teams, there was a free-for-all for the remaining 22 spots in the polls.
U-Mary and Simon Fraser both jumped into the top-five at fourth and fifth, respectively. The ranking for the Clan – coming after a victory at the Sundodger Invitational thanks to a second-place finish by Julia Howley (21:22.9) – marks the first top-five ranking in program history.
Hillsdale and Cal State San Marcos made the most noise in the top-10 this week, with the Chargers vaulting all the way to sixth after coming in at 14th a week ago. The Chargers fell only to GVSU at the MSU Spartan Open on the NCAA Division II circuit, but defeated NCAA Division I schools Eastern Michigan and Valparaiso.
Cal State San Marcos, though, jumped into ninth place after going unranked a week ago. The Cougars defeated Chico State at the UC-Riverside Invitational, sending the Wildcats down to 11th in the polls.
Cal Baptist (seventh), Southern Indiana (eighth) and Cedarville (10th) rounded out the top-10 on the week.
Outside of teams that were unranked a week ago, Dallas Baptist made the biggest jump in the polls from last week to Wednesday, as the Patriots jumped 12 spots to 12th after winning the Missouri Southern Stampede with a school-record 17.59 average. The ranking is a new high for the Patriots, after coming in at 13th during the final week of the 2009 campaign.
Walsh (17th) and Oklahoma Baptist (19th) made their season debuts in the rankings this week, while Point Loma Nazarene (t-23rd) returned after being ninth in the preseason poll.
