2021 NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 6
NEW ORLEANS – Change is in the air!
Here is the newest edition of the NCAA Division III Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll for Week 6 of the 2021 season, as released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Would you believe us if we told you that only six teams from Week 5 remained in the same place after an action-packed weekend?
NCAA Division III — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins
2
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
3
Pomona-Pitzer
Pomona-Pitzer
4
Wartburg
Wartburg
5
Washington (Mo.)
Washington (Mo.)
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Johns Hopkins, the unanimous No. 1, cemented its spot atop the index with a dominant victory at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle this past weekend. The Blue Jays scored just 28 points in the 35-team meet thanks to placing its entire scoring lineup in the top-10. Johns Hopkins also saw its next two runners finish 11th and 14th, so they were all in the top-15.
Two West Coast teams hold down spots No. 2 and No. 3: rivals Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer, respectively. The Athenas didn’t compete this past weekend, but made it look easy at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational two weeks ago with a 63-point win. The Sagehens, who jumped six spots from No. 9, were supposed to compete at their own invitational, but didn’t (COVID restrictions), certainly made up for lost time at the Augustana Interregional Invitational with an impressive victory over former No. 2 (now No. 4) Wartburg.
Hope rose eight spots between Week 5 and Week 6 to a program-best-since-2018 No. 8. The Flying Dutch, behind Anastasia Tucker’s individual title, finished a close – and we mean close – fifth at the Augustana Interregional Invitational. Hope ended up with 100 points, just three points fewer than No. 5 Washington (Mo.) and No. 7 UChicago totaled in a third-place tiebreaker.
Tufts, Bates and Middlebury, the third-, fourth- and fifth-place teams from the Connecticut College Invitational, sit No. 14, No. 15 and No. 16, respectively. The Jumbos were a clear third behind meet champion No. 6 Williams and No. 12 MIT, while the Bobcats and the Panthers were separated by just four points (163-167). No. 19 Amherst was fifth with 169 points.
Three programs jumped seven or more spots since Week 5: St. Olaf went from No. 30 to No. 23 after a third-place effort at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle; Brandeis went from No. 35 to No. 24 after a seventh-place showing at the Connecticut College Invitational; Trine went from No. 34 to No. 27 thanks to a fifth-place effort at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble.
No. 25 UW-Stevens Point, No. 30 Colorado College and No. 34 Smith all joined the poll after not being ranked in Week 5. This is the Pointers’ best ranking since 2014, while the Pioneers are ranked for the first time in program history.
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!
