2023 NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 6
NEW ORLEANS – In just a few days, the final starter’s pistol of the 2023 cross country season will be fired in Virginia, and what a whirlwind of a season it has been!
Catch up on changes to the NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll after Regional Championship Friday below.
Remember that this poll is conducted by counting votes from 11 member coaches – one from each of the division’s nine regions (who also do the regional rankings) – as well as two members from the NCAA Cross Country Executive Committee.
NCAA Division I — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Northern Arizona
Northern Arizona
2
NC State
NC State
3
BYU
BYU
4
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
5
Stanford
Stanford
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
No. 1 Northern Arizona toes the line at Panorama Farms as unanimous favorites, securing all 11 first-place votes in this week’s poll. Led by Gracelyn Larkin’s individual win, the Lumberjacks claimed the Mountain Regional title by a 20-point margin of victory over runner-up No. 3 BYU (39 to 59). NAU could be eyeing up a place in the history books, as this would be its first national women’s team title in program history.
Defending national champion NC State remains No. 2 after a winning effort at the Southeast Region Championships. The Wolfpack were once again led by Katelyn Tuohy and the rest of the team followed suit with four other athletes in the top-25.
Oklahoma State moves back up one position to No. 4, as the Cowgirls put on a clinic at their home course in Stillwater. Billah Jepkirui and Taylor Roe delivered a 1-2 punch and the team tally ended up just 30 points. No. 5 Stanford re-enters the top-5 as the Cardinals won the team title at the West Region Championships in a statement race against fellow nationally-ranked teams No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Washington.
No. 6 Georgetown, No. 7 Notre Dame, and No. 8 Florida are the other top-10 teams.
One of the biggest winners on Regional Championships Friday are the No. 13 Furman Paladins. Furman flew a dozen places in the National Coaches’ Poll after a second-place finish at the Southeast Regional, boasting just a 12-second spread between scorers, placing runners 13-15-16-17-21. No. 11 Tennessee took home the South Region title over Florida, No. 20 Alabama, No. 23 Ole Miss, and No. 25 Lipscomb.
Other notable newcomers include No. 26 Boston College, who soared into the rankings after finishing runner-up at the Northeast Regional, a 14-place improvement from last year’s finish, and qualifying them for the NCAA Championships.
Mark your calendars for THIS SATURDAY, because that’s when the 2023 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be held at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia.
