2019 NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 5
NEW ORLEANS – The NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday saw some teams continue to make strides in the standings.
The top-5 remained in the same order for the second straight week, and nine teams continued to rise in the rankings from a week ago following the last weekend of heavy action as teams begin preparing for conferences.
NCAA Division II — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Colo. School of Mines
Colo. School of Mines
2
Adams State
Adams State
3
Chico State
Chico State
4
Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State
5
Western Colorado
Western Colorado
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
The usual suspects continue to makeup the landscape for the top-5. For the fifth consecutive week, Colorado School of Mines is the overwhelming favorite after receiving all eight first-place votes.
The top-10 saw one team rise and two new faces in this week’s edition of the poll. No. 6 Missouri Southern moved up one spot following a second-place finish to No. 2 Grand Valley State at the Lewis Crossover. Lee (Tenn.) achieved its highest ranking in program history by moving up three spots to No. 9 following a team title at the Royals XC Challenge, while Michigan Tech moved up one spot to No. 10.
For the third time this season, Northwest Missouri continued to raise raising its standard, moving one spot up to No. 12 and setting a new program benchmark. The Bearcats were off this past weekend, but are coming off of their showing at the Chile Pepper Festival.
Some of the bigger jumps in the poll comes in the middle of the pack. Alabama-Huntsville climbed six spots from No. 19 to No. 13, Mount Olive comes in with the largest jump of seven spots to No. 14, and Sioux Falls climbed five spots to No. 15.
Both Alabama-Huntsville and Sioux Falls were in competition at the Lewis Crossover and finished in fifth and sixth, respectively. This is the Chargers highest national ranking in program history.
Over at the Royals XC Challenge, the Trojans placed second to Lee (Tenn.) at the Royals XC Challenge by 23 points and finishing ahead of third-place Queens (N.C.) (No. 18) and fourth-place Charleston (W.VA.) (No. 17).
Colorado Christian rejoins the poll, this time coming in at a program-high No. 21. The Cougars knocked off teams from the Midwest and Central regions to earn the nod back into the top-25.
The next National Coaches’ Poll will be released on October 30 following Conference Championship weekend.Be sure to check back throughout the season until November 23, when the 2019 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships will be held at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, California.
