2021 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 4

NEW ORLEANS – Change is in the air, not just fall.

Here is the newest edition of the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll for Week 4 of the 2021 season, as released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). A bushel of teams shifted multiple spots since Week 3 thanks to a huge weekend that saw a lot of high-caliber competition.

NCAA Division III — Men's Cross Country

This Week's National Top Five

1
Wartburg

2
Pomona-Pitzer

3
Williams

4
MIT

5
SUNY Geneseo

Cross Country Polls & Rankings

NATIONAL POLL

REGIONAL RANKINGS

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Nothing changed to the order of the top-3 teams from Week 3: Wartburg held steady at No. 1, followed by Pomona-Pitzer and Williams at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. The now unanimous Knights were the only team out of the bunch to compete this past weekend and rolled to victory at the Dan Huston Invitational over No. 10 Washington (Mo.). Wartburg notched a near-perfect score of 18 points with a 29-second spread between their first and fifth runners over the 8k course.

MIT leapfrogged SUNY Geneseo from the No. 5 spot, despite each team winning this past weekend. The electorate felt that the Engineers’ demolition of eight other top-35 programs at the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic weighed heavier than the Knights’ victory at the Mike Woods Invitational. MIT won by 89 points and put its entire scoring lineup in the top-15.

Both Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Emory parlayed strong efforts at the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic into big jumps in the National Coaches’ Poll. The Stags, who finished runner-up in Louisville, Kentucky, improved two spots from No. 9 to No. 7. The Eagles, who finished a close third behind MIT and CMS, soared seven spots from No. 16 to No. 9 for their best ranking in program history (Emory’s previous high was No. 11 in 2009).

Elsewhere in the index, UW-La Crosse, Middlebury, UW-Oshkosh and Lynchburg all worked their way up the ladder. The Eagles, who flew three spots from No. 14 to No. 11, finished fourth at the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic, three spots ahead of the seventh-place Hornets, who went from No. 23 to No. 20 in Week 4. The Panthers, who went from No. 27 to No. 18 for their best ranking since 2018, were a clear runner-up at the Mike Woods Invitational. The Titans, who strode from No. 31 to No. 19 and own their best ranking since 2015, were third at the Blugold Invitational behind No. 8 UW-Whitewater and No. 15 Carleton.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 20, because that’s when the 2021 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will be held at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky!