2020 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 5
NEW ORLEANS – We’re less than one month away from the rescheduled 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, set for March 15 at the Oklahoma State Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Time flies when you have multiple seasons going at once, right?
It was also just announced the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be back on LIVE TELEVISION for the first time since 2009, starting this year, thanks to the combined efforts of the USTFCCCA and ESPN. Watch all of the action on March 15 on ESPNU and the ESPN App.
With all of that said, there isn’t a better time to check out the Men’s Regional Rankings.
Great Lakes Region
There were a few changes to the other of the top-5 programs in the Great Lakes Region.
While Wisconsin and Notre Dame remain No. 1 and No. 2, Michigan jumped three spots from No. 6 to No. 3. Even though the Wolverines haven’t competed on the cross country course yet this spring and missed the Big Ten Championships, they’ve turned in strong efforts in distance events on the track, most recently at the B1G Indoor Track & Field Invitational.
Indiana dropped one spot to No. 4, while Butler surged three spots from No. 8 to No. 5. The Bulldogs recently won the team title at the Lipscomb Winter XC Classic in a rout (21 points).
Mid-Atlantic Region
There were no changes to the order of the top-5 programs in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Villanova is still No. 1, followed by No. 2 Georgetown, No. 3 Navy, No. 4 Temple and No. 5 Penn State.
Midwest Region
Tulsa cemented its spot atop the Midwest Region after a dominant performance at The American Cross Country Championships. The Golden Hurricane made it look easy in Wichita, Kansas, taking seven of the top-12 spots, including the top-2 finishers to win by 34 points.
Oklahoma State, which hasn’t raced since winning the Big 12 crown in a tiebreaker over Iowa State might have some company soon in the guise of those Cyclones. Iowa State recently finished a clear runner-up at the FSU Winter XC Classic a few weeks ago thanks to yet another individual title by Wesley Kiptoo, who remained undefeated on the grass circuit.
Kansas State held steady at No. 4 and is now followed by No. 5 Missouri.
Mountain Region
Don’t look for too many changes to the order of top-5 teams in the Mountain Region.
BYU continues to the lead the way, keeping the spot it captured after beating second-ranked Northern Arizona at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge to begin the month. The Cougars also starred at the Washington Invitational this past weekend with three men under 13:30 for 5000 meters on the oversized oval at the Dempsey Indoor.
Colorado and Utah State both competed at the FSU Winter XC Classic a few weeks ago and finished third and fourth, respectively. That’s where they sit in these regional rankings.
Air Force soared two spots since Week 4 to No. 5 in Week 5.
Northeast Region
There were minimal changes to the order of top-5 programs in the Northeast Region.
Iona didn’t budge from No. 1, but UMass Lowell and Syracuse swapped spots. The now second-ranked River Hawks have their best ranking in program history and will look to build off a dominant effort a few weeks ago at a tri-meet against New Hampshire and Rhode Island, where they swept the top-7 spots (Benjamin Drezek earned the individual crown).
Stony Brook and Providence held steady at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
South Region
Ole Miss and Georgia still own the top-2 spots in the South Region.
Florida State jumped two spots from No. 5 to No. 3 after a strong effort at the FSU Winter XC Classic a few weeks ago. The Seminoles finished seventh on their home course with head-to-head wins against Syracuse, Southern Utah, California Baptist and now fourth-ranked Tennessee.
Lipscomb also fell one spot to coincide with Florida State’s rise.
South Central Region
Arkansas and Texas still own the top-2 spots in the South Central Region.
Southeastern Louisiana is up to No. 3 after a split-squad effort at the FSU Winter XC Classic. Shea Foster competed solo in the Garnet Men’s 8K and finished seventh individually. The rest of the Lions were in the Gold Men’s 8K, where they finished runner-up to New Orleans. Combine their efforts and Southeastern Louisiana would have been 15th in the Garnet Men’s 8K.
Lamar and Rice are ranked No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
Southeast Region
NC State, Wake Forest and Virginia remain No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 in the Southeast Region.
Duke jumped three spots from Week 4 to No. 4 in Week 5 thanks to its strong showing at the FSU Winter XC Classic. The Blue Devils finished sixth with a 50-second spread.
Furman dropped one spot to No. 5.
West Region
Stanford is now the top team in the West. The Cardinal made their debut in a big way at the FSU Winter XC Classic, running away with the Garnet Men’s 8K team title. Stanford put three runners in the top-15 and led by as many as 88 points at the 4K mark en route to a 31-point win over Iowa State. Cole Sprout and Charles Hicks finished fifth and sixth individually.
Portland fell from No. 1 to No. 2 and is followed by No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Oregon and No. 5 Gonzaga.
