2019 NJCAA DI Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 1

NEW ORLEANSCloud County CC and Iowa Central CC kick off the 2019 season as Week 1 leaders in the NJCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches’ Polls.

There should be a lot of shifting in the ranks in the next few months as teams prepare for the 2019 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 9, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

NJCAA Division I — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
Cloud County (Kan.) CC
Central Arizona
Iowa Central CC
El Paso (Texas) CC
Iowa Western CC
1
Cloud County (Kan.) CC
2
Central Arizona
3
Iowa Central CC
4
El Paso (Texas) CC
5
Iowa Western CC
Cross Country Polls & Rankings

Cloud County CC started the year sky high with wins at the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic on August 30 followed by the Augustana Twilight Meet on September 6. The T-Birds earned six of the 10 first-place votes and tallied 191 points to edge Central Arizona College (187) and Iowa Central CC (184), which both received two first-place votes.

Leading the way for the T-Birds in 2019 is freshman Dais Malebana from Pretoria, South Africa, who has already been named National Athlete of the Week twice. He was also runner-up in last year’s South African U20 cross country championships.

Defending champion Central Arizona College and Iowa Central CC have traded the national trophy back and forth since 2012. Last year 18 points separated them at the national meet, but just 3 points currently separate them in the Week 1 poll. CAC’s top returning runner is Aaron Orar. He was 25th in last year’s nationals, just behind Iowa Central’s top returner, Milos Pendic in 24th.

El Paso CC is ranked No. 4 in the first poll. They were third at last year’s national meet and return all of its top 5. El Paso CC ran strong this past weekend at the Lori Fitzgerald Memorial, where it finished runner-up to host NCAA Division I UTEP.

Iowa Western CC rounds out the top 5.

NJCAA Division I — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
Iowa Central CC
El Paso (Texas) CC
South Plains (Texas)
New Mexico JC
Cowley (Kan.)
1
Iowa Central CC
2
El Paso (Texas) CC
3
South Plains (Texas)
4
New Mexico JC
5
Cowley (Kan.)
Cross Country Polls & Rankings

Two-time defending national champion Iowa Central CC is a unanimous No. 1, collecting all 10 first-place votes in the Week 1 poll. The Tritons, who return three of its scoring 5 from last year, are led by Lilian Busienei, who was third at last year’s national meet.

Iowa Central CC is looking to three-peat for the second time in program history. The Tritons also won three in a row from 2011 to 2013.

2018 national runner-up El Paso CC in the No. 2 position to begin the season. The Tejanas also return three of its top 5, led by defending individual champion Everlyn Kemboi, who started the season with a runner-up finish at the Lori Fitzgerald Memorial.

No. 3 South Plains College returns four of its top-5 and are led by Gladys Jemaiyo, runner-up at last year’s national meet. Just 4 points behind in the poll is New Mexico JC, with Cowley County CC rounding out the top-5.

Athletic.net
Presenting sponsor of USTFCCCA Polls and Rankings

USTFCCCA NJCAA Division I
's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

2019 Week 1 - September 18th

RANK TEAM & INFOPTSCHANGE
1 iowa-central-cc IOWA CENTRAL CC
Midwest Region
Region 11 (1)
Dee Brown (16th)
200
(10 fpv)
◀▶
(LW: 1)
2 el-paso-texas-cc EL PASO (TEXAS) CC
West Region
Region 5 (3)
Felix Hinojosa (20th)
190 ◀▶
(LW: 2)
3 south-plains-texas SOUTH PLAINS (TEXAS)
West Region
Region 5 (1)
Erik Vance (4th)
165 ▲ 2
(LW: 5)
4 new-mexico-jc NEW MEXICO JC
West Region
Region 5 (2)
Jeff Becker (7th)
161 NR
5 cowley-kan COWLEY (KAN.)
Central Region
Region 6 (1)
Cameron Rieth (2nd)
155 ▼ 1
(LW: 4)
6 central-arizona CENTRAL ARIZONA
West Region
Region 1 (1)
Paul Tavares (20th)
147 ◀▶
(LW: 6)
7 iowa-western-cc IOWA WESTERN CC
Midwest Region
Region 11 (2)
Marc Bierbaum (2nd)
144 NR
8 southern-idaho SOUTHERN IDAHO
West Region
Region 18
141 ▼ 5
(LW: 3)
9 north-iowa-area-cc NORTH IOWA AREA CC
Midwest Region
Region 11 (3)
Curtis Vais (16th)
123 ▲ 14
(LW: 23)
10 monroe-new-rochelle-n-y MONROE-NEW ROCHELLE (N.Y.)
Atlantic Region
Region 15
Shirvon Greene (5th)
102 ▲ 11
(LW: 21)
11 lansing-mich-cc LANSING (MICH.) CC
Great Lakes Region
Region 12
Jim Robinson (11th)
101 ▲ 6
(LW: 17)
12 butler-kan-cc BUTLER (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6 (2)
Dustin Mettler (3rd)
86 NR
13 pasco-hernando-fla PASCO-HERNANDO (FLA.)
Atlantic Region
Region 8
Jacki Waller (15th)
73 ▼ 3
(LW: 10)
14 cuyahoga-ohio-cc CUYAHOGA (OHIO) CC
Great Lakes Region
Region 12
Don Cox (28th)
72 ▲ 15
(LW: 29)
15 mesa-ariz-cc MESA (ARIZ.) CC
West Region
Region 1 (2)
Dan Pescador (5th)
63 ▼ 6
(LW: 9)
16 muskegon-mich-cc MUSKEGON (MICH.) CC
Great Lakes Region
Region 12
Mike Smith
52 ▼ 1
(LW: 15)
17 hutchinson-kan-cc HUTCHINSON (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6 (4)
Justin Riggs (5th)
39 ▼ 5
(LW: 12)
18 daytona-state-fla DAYTONA STATE (FLA.)
Atlantic Region
Region 8
Judy Wilson (2nd)
20 ▲ 6
(LW: 24)
18 highland-kan-cc HIGHLAND (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6 (7)
Tom Bond (12th)
20 ▲ 7
(LW: 25)
20 ranger-texas RANGER (TEXAS)
West Region
Region 5 (4)
Kathy Graham (5th)
16 ▼ 2
(LW: 18)
21 carl-albert-state-okla CARL ALBERT STATE (OKLA.)
(none selected) Region
(none selected)
8 NR
22 grand-rapids-mich-cc GRAND RAPIDS (MICH.) CC
Great Lakes Region
Region 12
6 NR
23 vincennes-ind VINCENNES (IND.)
Great Lakes Region
Region 24 (1)
Randy Heisler (2nd)
5 NR
23 pratt-kan-cc PRATT (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6 (3)
5 ▼ 10
(LW: 13)
25 central-wyoming CENTRAL WYOMING
West Region
Region 9 (1)
Al Lara
4 NR

Dropped Out: No. 4 Paradise Valley (Ariz.) CC, No. 6 Cloud County (Kan.) CC, No. 8 Colby (Kan.) CC, No. 10 Allen (Kan.) CC, No. 11 Trinidad State (Colo.), No. 12 Louisburg (N.C.), No. 15 Indian Hills (Iowa) CC, No. 19 Hawkeye (Iowa) CC, No. 22 Wallace State-Hanceville (Ala.) CC, No. 24 Southwestern (Iowa) CC, No. 26 Waubonsee (Ill.) CC, No. 27 Dodge City (Kan.) CC, No. 31 Fort Scott (Kan.) CC, No. 32 CCBC Essex (Md.), No. 33 *Delaware Tech CC-Terry, No. 33 Delaware Tech CC, No. 34 Jacksonville (Texas), No. 35 Bossier Parish (La.) CC, No. 36 Kaskaskia (Ill.)



Week-by-Week Ranking

TeamWeek #1Week #2Week #3Week #4Week #5FINAL
Cloud County (Kan.) CC111111
El Paso (Texas) CC442332
Iowa Central CC323223
Central Arizona234444
Trinidad State (Colo.)668885
Southern Idaho975556
Hutchinson (Kan.) CC757777
Iowa Western CC5106568
Allen (Kan.) CC899999
Colby (Kan.) CC151910101010
Paradise Valley (Ariz.) CC1114161711
Ranger (Texas)161212141412
Vincennes (Ind.)231715171613
Mesa (Ariz.) CC121417131314
Seminole State (Fla.)2415
New Mexico JC13810151516
Lansing (Mich.) CC111313111117
North Iowa Area CC101517121218
Fort Scott (Kan.) CC212119
Hawkeye (Iowa) CC171822181820
Monroe-New Rochelle (N.Y.)212416192021
Cleveland State (Tenn.) CC14162022
Wallace State-Hanceville (Ala.) CC2323
Highland (Kan.) CC182019242225
Louisburg (N.C.)192126
Indian Hills (Iowa) CC25201928
Daytona State (Fla.)2531
Butler (Kan.) CC19212532
Southwestern (Iowa) CC242434
Hagerstown (Md.) CC2340
Cowley (Kan.)22212221
Western Texas21
South Plains (Texas)21
CCBC Essex (Md.)25

USTFCCCA NJCAA Division I Cross Country

2019 Rankings & Polls Calendar
Weeks National Coaches' Poll KEY DATES
Week 1Wed 9/18
Week 2Wed 10/2
Week 3Wed 10/16
Week 4Wed 10/30
Week 5Wed 11/6Nov. 9: NJCAA DI National Champs (Albuquerque, N.M.)
FINAL Results
(official final ranking)
Sat 11/9
MEN | WOMEN