2019 NCAA DIII Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 1
NEW ORLEANS – Even though it’s early in the season, we’re beginning to see some movement in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Regional Rankings.
The most recent installment, which was released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), saw a number of alterations in both the men’s and women’s in a number of the eight regions.
Men’s Story
Atlantic Region
There was one notable change in the top-5 of the Atlantic Region in Week 1.
Rochester (N.Y.) jumped seven spots from No. 10 to No. 3 and took up residence behind No. 1 SUNY Geneseo and No. 2 RPI. The Yellowjackets, who own their best regional rank since they were third in 2013, placed third at their own Yellowjacket Invitational this weekend behind NCAA DI Cornell and the regional-leading Knights.
The top-5 is rounded out by No. 4 Brockport and No. 5 SUNY Oneonta.
Central Region
There were no changes to the top-5 of the Central Region in Week 1.
Wartburg and Carleton are still projected to earn the region’s automatic bids in November, while St. Olaf, St. Thomas (Minn.) and Loras sit No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
Great Lakes Region
There were a few changes to the top-5 of the Great Lakes Region in Week 1.
Calvin and Otterbein remained No. 1 and No. 2, but John Carroll jumped two spots from No. 5 to No. 3. This is the first time that the Blue Streaks have been ranked in the top-3 of the region since 2017 and they can thank a close third-place finish at the Calvin Knight Invitational two weeks ago for getting them back to that spot.
The top-5 is rounded out by Case Western Reserve and Trine.
Mideast Region
There were no changes to the top-5 of the Mideast Region in Week 1.
Carnegie Mellon and Johns Hopkins are still projected to earn automatic bids, while Haverford, Elizabethtown and Dickinson sit No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5.
Midwest Region
There were no changes to the top-5 of the Midwest Region in Week 1.
North Central (Ill.) and Washington (Mo.) are still projected to earn automatic bids, while UW-La Crosse, U of Chicago and UW-Stevens Point sit No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
New England Region
There was a small change to the top-5 of the New England Region in Week 1.
Williams and Bates are still projected to earn automatic bids, but Bates swapped spots with Amherst. The Bobcats are now No. 3 and recently romped to a victory at their own Super XC Shootout at Pineland Farms when they put five runners in the top-6.
Amherst and Middlebury rounded out the top-5 at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
South/Southeast Region
There were a few changes to the top-5 of the South/Southeast Region in Week 1.
Emory is the new No. 1 after recently winning the team title over NCAA Division I Auburn at the JSU Struts Cross Country Season Opener and then finishing second at the UTC Twilight Cross Country Meet. This is the first time that the Eagles have been No. 1 regionally since 2016.
Berea (Ky.) dropped to No. 2 and is followed by third-ranked Washington and Lee, now fourth-ranked Rhodes and now fifth-ranked Lynchburg.
West Region
There was a minor shakeup at the top of the West Region in Week 1.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took over the No. 1 spot from Pomona-Pitzer based on recent results. The Stags finished a close third at the season-opening Biola Invitational and then placed fifth at the UCR Invitational this past weekend, topping the former No. 1 Sagehens.
The rest of the top-5 is rounded out by UC-Santa Cruz, Occidental and Redlands.
Women’s Story
Atlantic Region
There was one notable change to the top-5 of the Atlantic Region.
SUNY Geneseo, RPI, Rochester (N.Y.) and TCNJ all sit No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, but RIT soared from being unranked to No. 5 after its performance this past weekend. The Tigers finished fourth at the Yellowjacket Invitational and put four runners in the top-25.
Central Region
There were no changes to the top-5 of the Central Region in Week 1.
No. 1 Carleton, No. 2 Wartburg, No. 3 St. Thomas (Minn.), No. 4 St. Olaf and No. 5 Gustavus Adolphus all sit in the same order that they did in the preseason.
Great Lakes Region
There were a few minor changes to the top-5 of the Great Lakes Region in Week 1.
Oberlin took over the top spot, usurping Baldwin Wallace after a strong effort two weeks ago at the Calvin Knight Invitational. The Yeowomen finished second behind NCAA Division II Hillsdale at the meet as they put three runners in the top-25 and were led by Oona Jung-Beeman who finished 10th overall.
Case Western Reserve jumped five spots from No. 9 to No. 4. The Spartans ran well at the season-opening Calvin Knight Invitational as well as the Allegheny Classic this past weekend.
Mideast Region
There was a minor change to the top-5 of the Mideast Region.
Johns Hopkins and Dickinson are still No. 1 and No. 2, while Carnegie Mellon sits No. 3.
Messiah and Haverford swapped spots as the former is now ranked No. 4 and the latter is now ranked No. 5.
Midwest Region
There was a minor change to the top-5 of the Midwest Region in Week 1.
U of Chicago moved into the No. 2 spot behind the region-leading Bears from Washington (Mo.). The Maroons recently finished runner-up to NCAA Division I Butler at the Vic Godfrey Open and their top-3 athletes all finished within three seconds of each other.
The top-5 is rounded out by No. 3 UW-Eau Claire, No. 4 UW-La Crosse and No. 5 St. Norbert.
New England Region
There were no changes to the top-5 of the New England Region in Week 1.
Williams and MIT are still projected to earn automatic bids come November, while Tufts, Middelbury and Wesleyan (Conn.) round out the top-5.
South/Southeast Region
There was one notable change to the top-5 of the South/Southeast Region in Week 1.
Washington & Lee moved into the No. 2 spot behind top-ranked Emory after a few weeks of competition. The Generals most recently won the Roanoke Invitational/ODAC Preview thanks to putting all five scorers in the top-15. This is just the third time in the past seven years that W&L has been ranked in the top-2 of the region.
Centre dropped to No. 3, while Trinity (Texas) and Berry came in at No. 4 and No. 5.
West Region
There were some notable changes to the top-5 of the West Region in Week 1.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took over the top spot from Pomona-Pitzer after a strong effort at the UCR Invitational this past weekend. The Athenas ran well as a pack to finish sixth behind five NCAA Division I programs. CMS’ top-5 athletes went 32-43-45-47-53 in the team scoring.
Elsewhere, Whitworth jumped six spots from No. 10 to No. 4 following its performance at the Cougar Classic hosted by Washington State. The Pirates saw their entire top-7 finish within two minutes of each other and within nine spots in the team scoring.
