2021 NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 3
NEW ORLEANS – The newest edition of the NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll shows that the season isn’t going to slow down any time soon.
The Week 3 edition that was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Wednesday had 24 different programs moving up or down the index thanks to a handful of meets that shook up the rankings.
NCAA Division II — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State
1
Colo. School of Mines
Colo. School of Mines
3
Adams State
Adams State
4
Augustana (S.D.)
Augustana (S.D.)
5
Colorado Christian
Colorado Christian
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Nothing changed among the top-3 programs as co-No. 1s Colorado School of Mines and Grand Valley State and No. 3 Adams State held steady. The Orediggers and Lakers continued to split all eight first-place votes right down the middle. All three teams were idle this past weekend, but are gearing up to travel across the country for their respective competitions: the Orediggers will race at the Chile Pepper Festival; the Lakers at Live in Lou; the Grizzlies will head to Pennsylvania for the Paul Short Run.
No. 4 Augustana (S.D.) is making its first top-5 appearance of the season after leapfrogging No. 5 Colorado Christian. The Vikings were idle this past weekend, but look forward to a head-to-head matchup with the top-ranked Orediggers at the Chile Pepper Festival this upcoming weekend.
Four teams that reside in the top-10 continued to ascend the National Coaches’ Poll: Lee (Tenn.) up from No. 8 to No. 7; Alabama-Huntsville up one from No. 9 to No. 8; Southern Indiana up three from No. 12 to No. 9; Pittsburg State up one from No. 11. This is the first top-10 appearance for the Gorillas in program history and they are riding the wave from their win at the Missouri Southern Stampede. The Chargers will be the only team in the bunch to race this weekend as they head to Saint Leo for the DII National Preview before coming home to host the Chargers Invite on October 9. That field will feature the Flames and Gorillas.
Further down the leaderboard, there were seven teams that climbed multiple spots: Missouri Southern jumped from No. 15 to No. 12; Fresno Pacific jumped from No. 19 to No. 13 for a program-best ranking; Charleston (W.VA.) jumped from No. 25 to No. 15; Simon Fraser jumped from No. 24 to No. 19; Northwest Missouri moved from No. 22 to No. 20; Biola (Calif.) from No. 26 to No. 23; Cal State San Marcos from No. 30 to No. 26.
Four of those seven teams mentioned above raced this past weekend: the Golden Eagles improved by 10 spots in the National Coaches’ Poll after beating former No. 18 (now No. 25) Walsh, 28-49, to win the LHU Open Invitational; SFU finished second to NCAA Division I Portland at the Mike Johnson Classic; the Eagles captured runner-up honors at The Master’s University Cross Country Invitational; the Cougars, who hosted the Cougar Challenge this past weekend, finished third in the team standings and finished two points ahead of former No. 10 (now No. 27) Cal State Stanislaus, who finished fourth.
A new face in the National Coaches’ Poll this season is No. 30 Edinboro, who was previously receiving votes the last two weeks. The Fighting Scots finished third at the LHU Open/Invitational.
Mark your calendars – the 2021 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships are set for Saturday, November 20 at Abbey Golf Course in Tampa, Florida.
