2021 NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 1

NEW ORLEANS – As the early season gets underway and results come in, here is the Week 1 iteration of the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday.

All of our top-2 teams from the preseason held steady going into Week 1, while several changes occurred among the remaining ranks.

Great Lakes Region

There was a bit of a shakeup to the order of the top-5 teams in the Great Lakes Region.

While Michigan State, Michigan and Indiana remain at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, Wisconsin jumped two spots from No. 6 to No. 4 after opening up the season with a win at the Badger Classic. Notre Dame fell one spot to No. 5.

Mid-Atlantic Region

There were no changes among the top-5 teams in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Georgetown and Princeton remain at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 West Virginia, No. 4 Villanova and No. 5 Penn State. The Hoyas and Tigers both earned impressive wins at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational and the HYP Triangular, respectively.

Midwest Region

There were no changes among the top-5 teams in the Midwest Region.

No. 1 Minnesota and No. 2 Illinois continue to sit among the top of the region, while No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Iowa State and No. 5 Loyola-Chicago remained steady. All five teams have competed so far this season, with the Cowboys and Cyclones each picking up wins in their respective competitions.

Mountain Region

There was a small change among the top-5 teams in the Mountain Region.

While BYU and New Mexico remained at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, No. 3 Northern Arizona jumped ahead of now No. 4 Colorado after winning the George Kyte Classic, and Colorado State held steady at No. 5.

Northeast Region

There was a small change among the top-5 teams in the Northeast Region.

While UConn and Providence held steady at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, Boston College improved one spot to No. 3. The Golden Eagles opened up their season with a strong second place finish at the Ken O’Brien Minuteman Invitational behind the Huskies. Syracuse fell one spot to No. 4, with No. 5 Harvard staying put from the Preseason ranking.

South Region

There were no changes among the top-5 teams in the South Region.

Alabama and Ole Miss stayed at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Georgia Tech and No. 5 Tennessee. All five teams were in competition the past few weekends and four earned victories: Ole Miss, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.

South Central Region

There was a shakeup among the top-5 teams in the South Central Region.

While No. 1 Arkansas and No. 2 Texas held steady from the preseason, Texas A&M climbed three spots to No. 3 after winning the Aggie Opener two weekends ago. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who was previously not ranked in the preseason, soared to No. 4 in Week 1. The Islanders narrowly edged out Rice at the 45th Rice Invitational, 40-42. LSU remained steady at No. 5 to round out the top teams.

Southeast Region

There was a bit of a shakeup among the top-5 teams in the Southeast Region.

While NC State and North Carolina remained at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, the next three spots saw some changes. No. 3 Furman improved one spot after winning their home invitational and bumped Kentucky to No. 4. Rounding out the top-5 is Duke with a one spot improvement after capturing the win at the Elon Opener.

West Region

There was one change among the top-5 teams in the West Region.

While Stanford, Washington, Boise State and Oregon State remained at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, Oregon improved three spots to come in at No. 5. The Ducks swept the top-7 spots en route to a win at the Lewis & Clark Opener.