2018 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 2
NEW ORLEANS – One of these days there will be some seismic changes in the NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll as released weekly by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Today is not one of those days.
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Eighteen teams that were in the top-20 last week remained in place seven days later. The only change in the top-20 was Syracuse and Colorado State switching spots from No. 11 to No. 10 and No. 10 to No. 11, respectively.
On a base level, we did see the debut of BYU at its own Autumn Classic. The second-ranked Cougars made it look easy as they swept the top-7 spots. Clayson Shumway led BYU with a time of 20:56.2, but four of his teammates – Conner Mantz, Rory Linkletter, Connor McMillan and Daniel Carney – were right there with him between 20:56.5 and 20:56.8.
Wisconsin also made its debut at the first of four meets to be held at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course this year. The ninth-ranked Badgers were led by Olin Hacker, who returned to the grass circuit after nearly two years of battling injuries. Hacker won by 17 seconds over teammate Tyson Miehe.
Further down in the ballot, Oklahoma State and Michigan State improved their billing from the previous week two spots each. The Cowboys climbed from No. 21 to No. 19 despite not racing, while the now 20th-ranked Spartans won the Spartan Invitational this past weekend with an abbreviated roster.
Princeton and Villanova both jumped one spot from Week 1 to No. 24 and No. 27, respectively. The Tigers don’t race again until the Nuttycombe Invitational, while the Wildcats made it look easy at the Main Line Invitational this past weekend with a top-7 sweep.
There is one new addition to the poll this week: Indiana. The 28th-ranked Hoosiers won the Paddy Doyle Meet of Champions this past weekend with a total score of 55 points, 12 fewer than Columbia. This marks the 19th consecutive year that Indiana has been ranked in the National Coaches’ Poll.
Michigan and Texas sit right outside the top-30, while Butler, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Utah State, Army West Point, Stony Brook, Minnesota, Eastern Kentucky and Columbia also received votes from the electorate.
Be sure to check back throughout the season as changes should be plentiful following major weekends, like the one coming up in two weeks headlined by the aforementioned Nuttycombe Invitaitonal.
