2019 NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 2
NEW ORLEANS – The first big weekend of cross country racing saw some changes in the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings.
Two new teams sit atop their respective region, while other programs began to trade positions.
SEE MORE: NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings
GREAT LAKES REGION
There were no changes in the Great Lakes Region.
No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Wisconsin maintained their positions. The Wolverines placed fourth at the John McNichols Invitational behind nationally ranked Arkansas, Stanford, and Washington.
Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State round out the top five. Notre Dame won the National Catholic Invitational, placing five in the top-10.
MID-ATLANTIC REGION
There was only one change in the Mid-Atlantic.
Penn State, Princeton, Villanova, and Georgetown all remained in the top-4 positions.
The change in the rankings came from No. 5 West Virginia. The Mountaineers moved up one spot back into the top-5 after storming to a win at the Lock Haven Invitational with a perfect team score.
MIDWEST REGION
There was hardly any change in the Midwest region.
No. 1 Iowa State, No. 2 Oklahoma State, and No. 3 Minnesota kept their ranks after having a weekend off from racing.
Illinois held on to the fourth spot for its third consecutive week with a strong performance in a top heavy field at the John McNichols Invitational.
No. 5 Missouri jumped up one spot to round out the top five.
MOUNTAIN REGION
There was a little shuffling among teams in the Midwest.
The top two teams in the region, No. 1 BYU and No. 2 Colorado, held their spots.
No. 3 Northern Arizona and No. 4 Air Force swapped positions in this week’s rankings.The Lumberjacks placed fifth against a strong field at the aforementioned Jack McNichols Invitational.
Southern Utah remained at No. 5.
NORTHEAST REGION
The biggest changes in this week’s version of the rankings come from the Northeast, as no team held their previous spot.
The new No. 1 in the Northeast belongs to Syracuse. The Orange jumped up four spots from No. 5 after rolling to a victory at the Coast-To-Coast Battle in Beantown, defeating No. 25 Dartmouth. Junior Amanda Vestri led four women to a top-10 finish.
Syracuse owns the region’s No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2014.
No. 2 Boston College jumped up one spot from third with their second-place team effort behind Syracuse.
The changes in the top two bumped Columbia to third. No. 4 Harvard made the biggest jump, moving up four spots from eighth a week ago following their fourth-place team effort in Beantown.
No. 5 Dartmouth dropped two spots to round out the five teams.
SOUTH REGION
The South remained fairly steady.
No. 1 Ole Miss and No. 2 Florida State stayed at their respective spots. Both teams did not race this past weekend, but are slated to see each other at the Joe Piane Invitational on October 4.
No. 3 Florida moved up one spot from fourth and moved No. 4 Georgia Tech down one spot. No. 5 Vanderbilt remained the same.
SOUTH CENTRAL
There was no change in the South Central, as all teams remained the same.
No. 1 Arkansas stayed on top and was the only team that competed. The Razorbacks came out on top at the John McNichols Invitational that featured four top-10 nationally ranked teams, led by senior Taylor Werner. Werner won the individual crown in Terre Haute by nearly 10 seconds.
No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Houston, and No. 5 Baylor maintained their positions from last week.
SOUTHEAST REGION
There was a little change in the Southeast Region.
No. 1 NC State and No. 2 Furman have held onto their respective placement for three consecutive polls. The Wolfpack won their season opener at the adidas XC Challenge.
Virginia Tech made the biggest change in the rankings, moving up two spots to third with a with at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational.
Virginia Tech’s jump accounted for No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Wake Forest to drop one spot each.
WEST REGION
There was a shakeup in the West Region.
Stanford is the new top team in the West as they jumped up three spots from fourth. The Cardinal women finished second to Arkansas by five points at the John McNichols Invitational in a battle of top-ranked teams.
Stanford’s jump cause No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Oregon, and No. 4 Boise State to drop one place each from their position last week. The Huskies earned a third-place finish at the John McNichols Invitational.
Oregon State stayed at No. 5 to round out the region.
