2018 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 6
NEW ORLEANS – Results from the biggest weekend of the regular season truly shook up the most recent NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll that was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Numerous ranked teams mixed it up with each other at the Connecticut College Invitational, the Inter-Regional Border Battle and the Kollege Town Sports Invitational this past weekend, which caused a monumental shift in the season’s seventh index.
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Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves and say that North Central (Ill.) remained the unanimous No. 1 team for yet another week. The Cardinals cruised to the team title this past weekend at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational as they put four runners in the top-10 (including a 1-2 finish by Dhruvil Patel and Matt Osmulski) and their entire top-7 in the top-40.
Washington (Mo.) finished a clear runner-up to North Central (Ill.) in Winneconne, Wisconsin, and jumped four spots from No. 6 to No. 2. The Bears had four runners finish in the top-25 this past weekend as they were led by Brad Hodkinson in ninth overall. This is the second time WashU has been ranked No. 2 in the National Coaches’ Poll this season.
Third place at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational went to Calvin and that’s where the team sits in the most recent index. The Knights put three runners in the top-25 as they finished 30 points behind the Bears and 17 points ahead of Haverford. This is the best ranking for Calvin since Week 6 and Week 7 of 2012 when it was No. 2 in the nation.
Three teams that didn’t compete at the de facto NCAA DIII Pre-National Invitational this past weekend stood out at other meets and rocketed up the rankings: Johns Hopkins, SUNY Geneseo and Amherst.
The Blue Jays won the team title at the Inter-Regional Border Battle hosted by Rowan. Johns Hopkins put four runners in the top-10 and jumped four spots deeper inside the top-10 from Week 5 (No. 10) to Week 6 (No. 6). This is the best billing of the season thus far for the Blue Jays and they’re getting closer to matching their best rank in program history (No. 3).
The Knights finished runner-up to Johns Hopkins this past weekend and surged six spots from No. 13 to No. 7. SUNY Geneseo had a strong 1-2 punch at the top of its lineup as Sean McAneny and Jackson Tate finished second and fourth, respectively. This marks the fifth year in a row that the Knights cracked the top-10 at some point in the season.
The Mammoths held off Williams for the team title at the Connecticut College Invitational and were rewarded kindly. Amherst jumped eight spots from Week 5 to Week 6 as the went from No. 16 to No. 8, which is a spot it has occupied seven times in the past three years.
Other notable moves were turned in by UW-Stout (No. 18 to a program-high No. 13), Otterbein (No. 24 to a program-high No. 15), SUNY Oneonta (NR to a program-high No. 19), Tufts (NR to No. 21) and Dickinson (No. 30 to No. 24), among others.
There will not be a National Coaches’ Poll next week, so you’ll want to check back on October 31, when the list is updated following Conference Championship Weekend.
