2023 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Preseason
NEW ORLEANS – Cross country is back!
Here is the preseason edition of the NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll for the upcoming 2023 season, as released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
NCAA Division III — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
North Central (Ill.)
North Central (Ill.)
2
Pomona-Pitzer
Pomona-Pitzer
3
SUNY Geneseo
SUNY Geneseo
4
MIT
MIT
5
UW-La Crosse
UW-La Crosse
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
North Central (Ill.) is projected to win its 20th national title come Saturday, November 18, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It has been five long years since the Cardinals last topped the NCAA podium. We say long because NCC routinely captured six of them between 2010 and 2019. Optimism is high for the Cardinals, who garnered six first-place votes, as they return six of the seven athletes that helped them finish seventh last year in East Lansing, Michigan. Two of those returning athletes were All-Americans in Connor Riss (38th place) and Drew Guilond (29th). This is the tenth time since 2009 that NCC headlined the preseason index.
Pomona-Pitzer is also expected to make a run for the crown. The Sagehens, who have won two of the past three national titles, earned four first-place votes and sit second to begin the season. An uncharacteristic off-performance at the NCAA Championships saw Pomona-Pitzer finish fifth, but all seven of its top athletes return and are ready to shine (The Sagehens won back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2021). The team welcomes back two All-Americans from the 2022 season: Lucas Florsheim (16th) and Derek Fearon (24th).
SUNY Geneseo earned its best finish since 2016 last year (third) and is thought to have a strong chance of landing on the podium once again in November. The Knights had three All-Americans last year – Nick Andrews (sixth), Ezra Ruggles (33rd) and Alex Hillyard (39th) – and all three of them return in 2023. Andrews was both the SUNYAC and Niagara Region champion. This is the best preseason rank for SUNY Geneseo in the past five years.
Defending national champion MIT sits fourth in the initial index. The Engineers, who ran away with the title last year by 47 points and snagged five All-America honors along the way, have four of those seven athletes back in the fold, led by 2022 third-place individual Sam Acquaviva. Look out for Matthew Kearney (14th last year) and Henry Hardart (35th) to step up once again.
UW-La Crosse caught some eyes and heads into the season ranked fifth. The Eagles, who finished eighth in 2022, return their entire lineup from last year and are said to have tremendous depth. Ethan Gregg is UW-La Crosse’s top runner, having finished fourth at the NCAA meet in 2022 and carried that momentum to have a dynamic year on the track.
Here are the rest of the top-10 teams in the preseason: No. 6 Wartburg (2022 national runner-up), No. 7 UW-Whitewater, No. 8 Carnegie Mellon, No. 9 Williams and No. 10 Johns Hopkins. This is the best preseason ranking in program history for the Warhawks, while the Tartans and Blue Jays both neared high-water marks.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 18, because that’s when the 2023 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
