2018 NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Preseason
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Wayland Baptist (Texas) solidifies the preseason No. 1 rank with 19 first-place votes, the national office announced on Wednesday.
Taylor (Ind.) received the other first-place vote and sits second in the preseason poll.
Other teams in the top-5 include No. 3 Milligan (Tenn.) as well as No. 4 Aquinas (Mich.) and Oregon Tech, who are both tied for fourth place.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
- Since the team’s first appearance in the 2016 polls, Wayland Baptist started at No. 18 and made their way to their first No. 1 ranking in 2018.
- Wayland Baptist finished second in 2017 and will return four-of-five athletes to the teams 2018 roster.
- Simon Fraser (B.C.) holds the record for the most No. 1 rankings with 41 all time.
- College of Idaho holds the record for the longest consecutively-ranked active school, appearing in 75-straight polls, followed by Carroll (Mont.) with 65.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
- Each conference is given one rater for every four schools in the league.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”
For the complete Top 25 calendar, CLICK HERE.
