2021 NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 4

NEW ORLEANS – Strong racing across the nation this past weekend stirred up several regions.

With that being said, here is the Week 4 installment of the NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings that was released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Atlantic Region

There were minor changes among the top-5 teams in the Atlantic Region.

Charleston (W.VA) and Edinboro remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. No. 3 Concord and No. 4 Shippensburg swapped places from Week 3. The Mountain Lions placed fourth in the Brown race at Paul Short, while the Raiders competed in the Gold section. Slippery Rock held steady at No. 5.

Central Region

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

Augustana (S.D.) and Pittsburg State remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Missouri Southern, No. 4 Northwest Missouri and No. 5 Neb.-Kearney. Two teams competed this past weekend: the Vikings captured runner-up honors in a strong field at the Chili Pepper Festival; the Lopers ran several runners outside of their top-7 at the Briar Cliff Charger Invite.

East Region

There were two changes among the top-5 teams in the East Region.

American International, Southern Connecticut and Roberts Wesleyan held steady at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, while No. 3 Franklin Pierce and No. 4 Stonehill traded places from Week 3. Two teams won their respective competition this past weekend: the Owls won the Brown section at the Paul Short Run; the Ravens took top honors at the Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup with 17 points.

Midwest Region

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

Grand Valley State and Southern Indiana remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Lewis, No. 4 Walsh and No. 5 Wayne State (Mich.). Grand Valley State and Lewis both competed at the Live in Lou Classic, with the Lakers placing second at the Gold race behind NCAA Division I Wisconsin, while the Flyers finished third in the Blue section. The Warriors stayed in Michigan and won the Red October meet.

South Region

There were several changes among the top-5 teams in the South Region.

Alabama-Huntsville and Lee (Tenn.) remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The Chargers finished fifth at the Chile Pepper Festival due to the tiebreaker rule after matching NCAA DI Arkansas with 192 points. No. 3 Mississippi College moved up one spot and bumped Florida Southern down to No. 4, while No. 5 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) climbed two spots back into the top-5 for the first time since the preseason. The Choctaws had a strong outing in the Gold race at the Live in Lou Classic with an eighth place finish and beating several DII teams.

South Central Region

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

Colorado School of Mines and Adams State remained at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Colorado Christian, No. 4 UC-Colorado Springs and No. 5 Western Colorado. The Orediggers debuted their full squad and easily ran away from the field to win the Chile Pepper Festival, while the Mountaineers finished third in the team standings. The Grizzlies traveled to Pennsylvania and were the top DII team in the Gold section of the Paul Short Run with a seventh place finish.

Southeast Region

There were several changes among the top-5 teams in the Southeast Region.

Queens (N.C.) stayed at No. 1, while Wingate leapfrogged Augusta for the No. 2 spot (Augusta fell to No. 3). Anderson (S.C.) held steady at No. 4 and is now followed by No. 5 Catawba, who climbed back into the top-5. All five teams competed this past weekend: the Royals placed 14th in the Gold race at Live in Lou; the Bulldogs and Indians raced at the DII National Preview and finished first and fifth, respectively; the Jags won the Alexander/Asics Invitational; the Trojans posted a perfect score at Run the Berry.

West Region

There were minor changes among the top-5 teams in the West Region.

Chico State, Biola (Calif.) and Cal State Stanislaus remain No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. No. 2 Simon Fraser and No. 3 Fresno Pacific traded places from Week 3, with SFU leapfrogging the Sunbirds. Everyone was idle this weekend except for Fresno Pacific, who traveled to Florida for the DII National Preview and placed second.