2018 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 1
NEW ORLEANS – Believe it or not: The NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll underwent a significant makeover between the preseason and Week 1. While the top-3 teams were locked in place from the preseason, 28 of the remaining 32 teams shifted spots since August 29.
North Central (Ill.), Amherst and UW-La Crosse haven’t budged since the first poll of the season. This is the Cardinals’ 14th consecutive week atop the ballot, while the Mammoths and Eagles come in No. 2 and No. 3 for the second and 27th time in program history, respectively.
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Haverford inched deeper inside the top-5 at No. 4. The Fords recently competed at their own Alumni Open Race and had three runners finish in under 15 minutes on the three-mile tract, led by Greg Morgan (14:41) and Dylan Gearinger (14:49).
RPI jumped three spots from No. 8 to No. 5 and is ranked in the top-5 for the first time in program history. The Engineers finished runner-up to NCAA Division I Monmouth at the Siena Invitational, which was an 8K race. RPI packed up well without a few of its top runners and had Noah Falasco (25:47.3), Henry Jaques (25:47.5) and Jake Kloman (25:48.6) take seventh, eighth and ninth place, respectively.
Calvin soared from No. 22 to No. 12 after a title-winning effort at its own Knight Invitational, which featured NCAA Division II Saginaw Valley State and several strong NAIA programs. Tyler Johnson led the way for Calvin as he finished fifth overall in 25:25.8 over the 8K tract.
Further down in the poll, Loras and Albion improved their standing to No. 25 and No. 27, up from No. 28 and No. 33 last week, respectively. The Duhawks were the top finishing NCAA DIII team at the All-American Invitational hosted by Luther, while the Brits battled well at the Titan Invitational against several NCAA DI programs.
Three new teams joined the top-35 after two weeks of competition: No. 33 Dickinson, No. 34 Otterbein and No. 35 Occidental.
Be sure to check back in throughout the season as the National Coaches’ Poll will continue to shift ahead of the 2018 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on November 17 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
