2023 NJCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Ranking – Week 1

NEW ORLEANS – A new name was among the highest rankers in the Week 1 NJCAA Division III Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The 2023 NJCAA Division III Cross Country Championships are set for Saturday, November 11 at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Alabama. It will be the first time since 2020 – and only second time since 1995 – that all three NJCAA divisional cross country championships will be contested at the same site on the same day.

NJCAA Division III — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
Harper (Ill.)
Jefferson (Mo.)
Mineral Area (Mo.)
Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC
Herkimer County (N.Y.) CC
1
Harper (Ill.)
2
Jefferson (Mo.)
3
Mineral Area (Mo.)
4
Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC
5
Herkimer County (N.Y.) CC
Cross Country Polls & Rankings

Not new, of course, is defending champion and No. 1 Harper (Ill.). The Hawks return two top-10 runners in Lilly Alberts (third) and Brianna Ruiz (10th). Alberts memorably was part of four victories at last spring’s NJCAA DIII Outdoor Championships, winning the 800 meters and anchoring three relays – 4×100, 4×400 and 4×800.

Enter Jefferson (Mo.), a first-year program with its first-ever ranking, impressively at No. 2. The Vikings have freshman-dominated roster with Lauren Hartman leading the way thus far.

No. 3 is Mineral Area (Mo.) CC, last year’s national runner-up by one excruciating point to Harper. The Cardinals return just two from that squad – both scorers, led by Riley Petsch (11th). Three freshmen have made up the remainder of the scoring five thus far this fall.

No. 4 is Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC, their highest-ever ranking. The Vikings return two scorers from last year’s team that finish seventh at nationals, and freshman Rebecca Martin has battled returning No. 1 Laurel Ticer in the first month.

Herkimer County (N.Y.) CC completes the top-5 with its highest-ever ranking. The Generals, however, finished fifth in 2016 before the rankings began in 2020. The rebuilding program is led by Amelia Bowman-McCoy, who was 18th last year.

Rounding out the top-10 are No. 6 RCSJ Gloucester (N.J.), No. 7 Kellogg (Mich.) CC, No. 8 SUNY Broome CC, No. 9 Georgia Military and No. 10 Anthony Baldwin (Ga.).

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USTFCCCA NJCAA Division III
Women's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

2023 Week 1 - September 20th

RANK TEAM & INFOPTSCHANGE
1 harper-ill HARPER (ILL.)
Central Region
Region 4
Jim Macnider (13th)
◀▶
(LW: 1)
2 jefferson-mo JEFFERSON (MO.)
Central Region
Region 16
Christopher Sandefur (1st)
NR
3 mineral-area-mo MINERAL AREA (MO.)
Central Region
Region 16
Steven Davis (5th)
▼ 1
(LW: 2)
4 hudson-valley-n-y-cc HUDSON VALLEY (N.Y.) CC
Central Region
Region 3
Sarah Popovics (10th)
▲ 3
(LW: 7)
5 herkimer-county-n-y-cc HERKIMER COUNTY (N.Y.) CC
Central Region
Region 3 (2)
John Campagna (2nd)
NR
6 rcsj-gloucester-n-j RCSJ GLOUCESTER (N.J.)
East Region
Region 19
Ryan Hughes (21st)
◀▶
(LW: 6)
7 kellogg-mich-cc KELLOGG (MICH.) CC
Central Region
Region 12
Tom Shaw (2nd)
NR
8 suny-broome-cc SUNY BROOME CC
Central Region
Region 3
Tom Carter
NR
9 georgia-military GEORGIA MILITARY
East Region
Region 17
Robert Sherwood (8th)
NR

Dropped Out: No. 3 Oxford (Ga.), No. 4 Joliet (Ill.) JC, No. 5 DuPage (Ill.), No. 8 Westmoreland County, No. 10 Lorain County (Ohio) CC, No. 11 Queensborough (N.Y.) CC



Week-by-Week Ranking

TeamWeek #1Week #2Week #3Week #4FINAL
Harper (Ill.)11111
Jefferson (Mo.)23222
Mineral Area (Mo.)32333
Herkimer County (N.Y.) CC54
RCSJ Gloucester (N.J.)65885
Suffolk County (N.Y.) CC8666
DuPage (Ill.)7447
FIT (N.Y.)9998
Mohawk Valley (N.Y.) CC79
Lorain County (Ohio) CC10710
Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC44101011
Georgia Military9655
Kellogg (Mich.) CC7
SUNY Broome CC8

USTFCCCA NJCAA Division III Cross Country

2023 Rankings & Polls Calendar
Weeks National Coaches' Ranking KEY DATES
Week 1Wed 9/20
MEN | WOMEN
Week 2Wed 10/4
MEN | WOMEN
Week 3Wed 10/18
MEN | WOMEN
Week 4Wed 11/1
MEN | WOMEN
FINAL Results
(official final ranking)
Sat 11/11
MEN | WOMEN