2023 NJCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 4
NEW ORLEANS – Salt Lake (Utah) CC is a unanimous No. 1 for third-straight time in the latest NJCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
This is the final set of rankings before the 2023 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, which are set for Saturday, November 11, at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Alabama.
NJCAA Division I — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Salt Lake (Utah) CC
Salt Lake (Utah) CC
2
New Mexico JC
New Mexico JC
3
Iowa Western CC
Iowa Western CC
4
Colby (Kan.) CC
Colby (Kan.) CC
5
Southern Idaho
Southern Idaho
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Salt Lake (Utah) CC completes a season-long stretch at No. 1. The Bruins impressed last year with a third-place finish at the nationals in their debut as a program and have looked even stronger this year. Salt Lake won the Scenic West Invitational with 26 points over a field that included No. 5 College of Southern Idaho and NCAA DI Utah State. Grace Tipton led the way individually for the Bruins, which fashioned a top-5 gap of just 25.4 seconds.
Just six points separates Nos. 2-5.
Regaining the No. 2 position is New Mexico JC. The T-Birds won the Region 5 Championships with 18 points as the field sported six ranked teams. Damaris Chewon won the individual title by 58.6 seconds; she’s been the top JUCO runner in six of her seven races this year. Last year’s runner-up finish is NMJC’s best-ever at the nationals.
Iowa Western CC is No. 3, its highest of the year and best ranking since being No. 2 in Week 5 of 2021. The Reivers scored 22 points to win the Region 11 Championships as Silvia Gradizzi – last week’s M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week – won the individual title. Iowa Western’s fifth-place finish in 2021 is it best ever in the national championships.
Moving up one spot to No. 4 is Colby (Kan.) CC. The Trojans scored 34 points to win the deep Region 6, whose seven DI-ranked teams include five in the top-9 (not to mention No. 1 in DII). Elif Poyraz led a 1-3-5 finish for Colby, whose best-ever finish in the DI nationals is fourth in 2020 (the Trojans won the DII title in 1999).
Dropping three rungs to No. 5 is two-time defending champion College of Southern Idaho. The Golden Eagles’ most recent outing was the Scenic West Invitational, finishing third behind Salt Lake and DI Utah State as a team as Elizabeth Phillips was the top collegian as individual runner-up. CSI has been in the top-6 at nationals every year since 2017.
Rounding out the top-10 are No. 6 Dodge City (Kan.) CC, No. 7 Hutchinson (Kan.) CC, No. 8 Cloud County (Kan.) CC, No. 9 Butler (Kan.) CC and No. 10 Central Arizona.
