2023 NJCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Preseason
NEW ORLEANS – Don’t touch that dial.
That’s the consensus from the NJCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll as defending champion Colby (Kan.) CC is a unanimous No. 1 in the Preseason rankings, which released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Will the Trojans repeat? That won’t be determined until Saturday, November 11, when the 2023 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Alabama.
NJCAA Division I — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Colby (Kan.) CC
Colby (Kan.) CC
2
New Mexico JC
New Mexico JC
3
Trinidad State (Colo.)
Trinidad State (Colo.)
4
Iowa Western CC
Iowa Western CC
5
Salt Lake (Utah) CC
Salt Lake (Utah) CC
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Colby raced to a score of 38 points in winning its first-ever NJCAA team title last year, 77 points up on its nearest pursuer. Two scorers return for the Trojans in top-10 finishers Mohammed Baghatti (seventh) and Kgadi Monyebodi (10th).
Closest in the poll is New Mexico JC at No. 2 – the T-Birds’ highest ranking since being No. 1 in Week 1 of 2021. NMJC returns brothers Tomas and German Vegas – who finished ninth and 13th, respectively, from last year’s squad that was fifth as a team. They have split their two races thus far this season.
Trinidad State (Colo.) is No. 3, matching it highest ranking from last year. Led by Hanibal Haile (12th last year), the Trojans return four of five scorers from last year’s sixth-place team and add transfer Kidus Msinga, 23rd last year as Cloud County (Kan.) CC’s top runner.
Iowa Western CC is No. 4, its highest since finishing the 2021 season as runner-up. The Reivers look forward to the return of Jacinto Gaspar, who was second in last September’s Gans Creek Classic.
No. 5 is a program-high for Salt Lake (Utah) CC – the Bruins rated as high as No. 6 last year in the program’s debut, finishing eighth with an all-freshmen team. Six runners return and the team also has newcomer JaQuavious Harris, who won the Utah Valley Invitational earlier this month.
Completing the top-10 are No. 6 Northwest Kansas Tech, No. 7 Iowa Central CC, No. 8 Indian Hills (Iowa) CC, No. 9 Central Arizona and No. 10 College of Southern Idaho.
