2020 NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 5

NEW ORLEANS – We are less than a month out from the 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

It was also announced that the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be back on LIVE TELEVISION for the first time since 2009 thanks to a joint effort by the USTFCCCA and ESPN. The meet will be on ESPNU and the ESPN App.

Here is the second edition of the Women’s Regional Rankings.

Great Lakes Region

There weren’t any changes to the order of the top-5 programs in the Great Lakes Region.

Michigan State and Michigan are in a tie for No. 1, followed by No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Wisconsin.

Mid-Atlantic Region

Georgetown maintained it’s No. 1 spot, while West Virginia climbed two spots to No. 2. The Mountaineers placed sixth in the Women’s Garnet 6k at the FSU Winter Classic, led by Ceili McCabe’s eighth place finish.

The rest of the top-5 is rounded out with No. 3 Villanova, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Temple.

Midwest Region

No. 1 Minnesota and No. 2 Illinois continue to sit atop the Midwest Region.

The rest of the top-5 is rounded out with No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Iowa State and No. 5 Tulsa. The Cowboys gained one spot from a week ago after a fourth place showing at the FSU Winter Classic, ahead of Iowa state and West Virginia. Tulsa gained one spot to make an appearance in the top-5 after winning the American Conference Championships. Caitlin Klopfer earned runner-up honors to lead the Hurricane.

Mountain Region

There were no changes in the Mountain Region to the order of the top-5 programs.

BYU remained at No. 1, followed by No. 2 New Mexico, No. 3 Colorado, No. 4 Northern Arizona and No. 5 Weber State.

The Cougars solidified its No. 1 ranking thanks to a team title at the Silver State Collegiate XC Challenge. The fourth-ranked Lumberjacks finished third, with fifth-ranked Weber State finishing in fifth in the field.

The Buffalos won the FSU Winter Classic in their first outing of the season, defeating Stanford 72-77.

Northeast Region

There were no changes to the order of the top-5 programs in the Northeast Region.

Boston College remains at No. 1, followed by No. 2 Providence, No. 3 Iona, No. 4 Syracuse and No. 5 Connecticut.

South Region

No changes occurred to the order of the top-5 teams in the South Region.

Alabama and Georgia Tech remain at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Ole Miss and No. 5 Tennessee.

South Central Region

There weren’t any changes to the order of the South Central Region’s top-5.

Arkansas remains at No. 1, followed by No. 2 Texas, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Baylor and No. 5 Arkansas State.

Southeast Region

The Southeast Region saw some changes to the top-5 teams.

While NC State remained at No. 1, Duke climbed one spot and will be the new No. 2. The Blue Devils put together a strong outing at the FSU Winter Classic, finishing third in the Women’s Garnet 6k behind Colorado and Stanford.

The top-5 is rounded out by No. 3 Furman, No. 4 UNC and No. 5 Liberty. The Flames improved one spot from the last set of rankings after placing seventh at the FSU Winter Classic, seven points behind West Virginia.

West Region

There were some changes to the top-5 in the West Region.

Stanford and Washington solidified their spots at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The Cardinal finished second to Colorado at the FSU Winter Classic by five points. Ella Donaghu won the individual title and Zofia Dudek finished in third. The Huskies recently competed at the Silver State Collegiate XC Challenge and placed fourth.

While No. 3 Boise State stayed put, No. 4 Portland and No. 5 San Francisco each climbed two spots to move into the top-5. The Pilots and Dons finished second and third, respectively, at the Oregon XC Open. Both teams finished ahead of Oregon State and Oregon.