2023 NJCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Ranking – Week 4
NEW ORLEANS – There were no changes in the top-5 in the latest NJCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
This is the final poll of the year before the 2023 NJCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, which will be held on Saturday, November 11, at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Alabama.
NJCAA Division III — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Harper (Ill.)
Harper (Ill.)
2
Mineral Area (Mo.)
Mineral Area (Mo.)
3
Joliet (Ill.) JC
Joliet (Ill.) JC
4
DuPage (Ill.)
DuPage (Ill.)
5
Oxford (Ga.)
Oxford (Ga.)
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Look for a lot of Region 4 influence at the national championships.
Three top-ranked squads locked horns at the Region 4 Championships, with No. 1 Harper (Ill.) earning the title with 30 points over No. 3 Joliet (Ill.) JC and No. 4 College of DuPage (Ill.), which followed with 51 and 54 points, respectively.
The third-place Chaps had the top individual in Kevin Diederich, and the runner-up Wolves claimed the next two with Andrew Ciarlette and Matt Clark. The Hawks followed with the next seven runners, led by Owen Whelan.
Those three programs have performed well at the NJCAA Championships – DuPage won last year with Joliet third and Harper fifth. Joliet won the title in 2021 and Harper was tops in 2018.
No. 2 Mineral Area (Mo.) CC is sure to be in the mix. The Cardinals scored a perfect 15 points to win the Region 24 Championships, led by individual winner (all divisions) Bradley Ahrens, who earned M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week honors for a second time this year. The Cardinals, who won the NJCAA DIII Championships in 2019 and 2020, were runner-up last year as Ahrens was individual runner-up.
No. 5 Oxford (Ga.) won the Region 17 Championships with 25, led by a 1-2 from Virat Vishwanadhula and Oliver Campbell. The Eagles’ best-ever finish at the national meet is tenth, achieved in 2017 and 2018.
Completing the top-10 are No. 6 Lorain County (Ohio) CC, No. 7 Kellogg (Mich.) CC, No. 8 Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC, No. 9 RCSJ Gloucester (N.J.) and No. 10 Georgia Military.
