2024 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 1
NEW ORLEANS – If they’re racing, they’re ranking.
Here is the newest edition of the 2024 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Fourteen different teams shifted spots since the preseason, so you better believe there was some good action across the nation.
National Coaches’ Polls are presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division III — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
UW-La Crosse
UW-La Crosse
2
Wartburg
Wartburg
3
UW-Whitewater
UW-Whitewater
4
Pomona-Pitzer
Pomona-Pitzer
5
Lynchburg
Lynchburg
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
None of the top-6 teams shifted spots in Week 1 with UW-La Crosse still the unanimous No. 1 and Wartburg a distant second, but Johns Hopkins soared from No. 14 into the top-10 at No. 7. The Blue Jays opened their season at the Salisbury Invitational back on August 31 and brought the boom. JHU posted a perfect score – actually, they took nine of the top-10 spots – and soundly defeated NCAA DI programs Seton Hall and Navy.
Further down the National Coaches’ Poll, Amherst and Emory both jumped three spots. The Mammoths, who improved to No. 14, debuted at the Little 3 Invitational and edged former No. 7 Williams, 28-31, while the 20th-ranked Eagles most recently won the team title at the Queens City Invitational. Emory ran as a pack in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a 13-second spread between its top-5 runners.
You don’t want to miss the John McNichols Invitational this weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana, because it will serve as a course preview for the NCAA Championships in November. Fourteen different ranked teams will compete in XC Town USA, including No. 1 UW-La Crosse, No. 2 Wartburg, No. 5 Lynchburg, No. 6 North Central (Ill.) and No. 7 Johns Hopkins, to name a few.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 23, because that’s when the 2024 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships will be held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.
