2024 NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Preseason
NEW ORLEANS – Defending champion Wingate opens the 2024 season at No. 1.
Here is the preseason edition of the NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
National Coaches’ Polls are presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division II — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Wingate
Wingate
2
East Central (Okla.)
East Central (Okla.)
3
Colo. School of Mines
Colo. School of Mines
4
West Texas A&M
West Texas A&M
5
Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Can they do it again? A unanimous No. 1 preseason ranking puts the odds in Wingate’s favor. The Bulldogs are coming off of a momentous 2023 that saw their first cross country national title. In what quickly turned into a race for the ages, Wingate took down perennial powerhouse Grand Valley State 70-79 at the 2023 NCAA Championships. The Bulldogs bring back six of their top-7 individuals from that race and add several strong newcomers. Head coach Pol Domenech will rely on Hamza Chahid and Soheil Boufrizi to anchor the front of their rotation after the duo both finished among the top-10 individuals last year.
East Central (Okla.) continues their rise up the charts, landing at No. 2 to start the year. The Tigers are scheduled to return all seven of their 2023 NCAA Championships squad – a squad that earned them a spot on the podium for the first time in program history and Great American Conference history. ECU will be hungry for more after adding Brian Mitei to the mix, a transfer out of Central Missouri that crossed the line ninth at the 2023 Central Region Championships. But it’s Aspel Kiprob that should remain the go-to guy after heading the Tigers’ skilled lineup on four separate occasions last year, including both the regional and national championships.
Based on the past, the question is never how for Colo. School of Mines, it’s who? Who will pilot the No. 3 Orediggers to victory in 2024? Let’s start with a top-3 that went 8-11-16 at the 2023 NCAA Championships. Talk about firepower! Colo. School of Mines will look to a pair of redshirt freshmen for depth: Dawson Gunn (13:58/29:57 during the outdoor season) and Chandler Wilburn.
No. 4 West Texas A&M is fortunate enough to have the lowest stick a team could ask for: 2023 NCAA cross country individual champion William Amponsah is back and better than ever. Accompanying him are four more Buffs from the previous squad, two of which managed All-American statuses on their own. Cast in Matthys Bourse, a transfer hailing from Charleston (W.Va.), and West Texas A&M begins to stack up real well.
Can’t forget Grand Valley State who comes in at the No. 5 spot. More often than not, head coach Jerry Baltes is able to cook up something special with the ingredients he’s given. It’s safe to say he doesn’t have to look very far this year. With four athletes that all finished inside of the top-50 at the 2023 NCAA Championships, things are shaping up rather well for the Lakers. Given that the Midwest Region is on lockdown (21 consecutive titles), GVSU will have plenty of time to fill out the rest of their contending squad.
Here are the rest of the top-10 teams in the preseason: No. 6 Adams State, No. 7 Chico State, No. 8 Western Colorado, No. 9 Pittsburg State and No. 10 Lewis.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 23, because that’s when the 2024 NCAA DII Cross Country Championships will be held at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, California.
