2023 NJCAA DII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 2
NEW ORLEANS – Paradise Valley (Ariz.) CC was a unanimous No. 1 in the Week 2 NJCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
NJCAA Division II — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Paradise Valley (Ariz.) CC
Paradise Valley (Ariz.) CC
2
Heartland (Ill.) CC
Heartland (Ill.) CC
3
Cowley (Kan.)
Cowley (Kan.)
4
Mesa (Ariz.) CC
Mesa (Ariz.) CC
5
Wallace State-Hanceville (Ala.) CC
Wallace State-Hanceville (Ala.) CC
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
How do you top a No. 1? Being unanimous is a good start, and Paradise Valley (Ariz.) CC matched their first-ever No. 1 in grand fashion with all 12 first-place votes. The Pumas narrowly won the Arizona CC Championships by 2 points, but that was over NJCAA DI No. 9 Central Arizona. PVCC had four top-10 finishers, led by freshman Keira Damon, who was overall runner-up.
Zooming up like a rocket to No. 2 was Heartland (Ill.) CC. This is not new altitude for the Hawks, who have rated top-5 in every poll since the DII rankings began in 2020. The Hawks won their own Heartland Invitational, with Addysen Clark leading three top-5 finishers.
Preseason No. 1 Cowley (Kan.) moved up three spots to No. 3. The Tigers were runner-up as the top JUCO team in the Prairie Fire Pepper race at Chile Pepper Festival as Dheniffer Vaz and Leticia Belo were nearly inseparable as top-10 finishers.
Mesa (Ariz.) CC is No. 4. The Thunderbirds – last year’s national runner-up – were third in the stiff all-division Arizona CC Championships, and they were led by M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week Carmella Baldwin, the overall winner by 25 seconds.
No. 5 is Wallace State (Ala.) CC. The Lions were runner-up at the Topper Trails Classic, with freshman Claire Deaton leading the team with a third-place finish.
Completing the top-10 teams are No. 6 Daytona State (Fla.), No. 7 Pasco-Hernando (Fla.), No. 8 Southeastern (Iowa) CC, No. 9 St. Clair County (Mich.) CC and No. 10 Des Moines Area (Iowa) CC.
The season culminates on Saturday, November 11, when the 2023 NJCAA Division II Cross Country Championships will be held at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Alabama.
