2024 NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – And then there was one.
One meet to crown one national champion.
It’s time to find out which men’s teams the electorate feels will contend for that national title come next Friday, November 22, at the 2024 NAIA Cross Country Championships in Columbia, Missouri.
NAIA — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
College of Idaho
College of Idaho
2
Milligan (Tenn.)
Milligan (Tenn.)
3
The Master's (Calif.)
The Master's (Calif.)
4
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City
5
Saint Mary (Kan.)
Saint Mary (Kan.)
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
College of Idaho is the consensus favorite with 15 of 19 first-place votes. The Yotes recently dominated the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships with a meager 24 points as they put six runners in the top-10, led by Daniel Butler’s individual title. College of Idaho proved its worth throughout the regular season, especially at the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic where it ran away with the team title over several ranked programs, including No. 5 Saint Mary (Kan.).
Milligan (Tenn.) sits second and is expected to push the Yotes over the 8k tract at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. The Buffs enter the NAIA Championships fresh off a routine win at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships where they beat No. 15 Montreat (N.C.) by 17 points. Bryn Woodall continues to lead Milligan (Tenn.) as he picked up his third win of the season. The Buffs tuned up for the AAC Championships with a close win over No. 6 Cumberlands (Ky.) at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Master’s (Calif.) and Oklahoma City could shake things up as they come in at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Both the Mustangs and the Stars earned one first-place vote from the electorate following victories at their respective conference championships. The Master’s (Calif.) and OCU got a taste of the championship course earlier this season with the former taking home the team title at the Larry Young XC Invitational and the latter battling to a runner-up finish at the Gans Creek Classic. The Stars have the prohibitive favorite to win the individual title in Evert Silva, who posted the nation’s fastest time earlier this season at the Gans Creek Classic.
No. 6 Cumberlands (Ky.), No. 7 Spring Arbor (Mich.), No. 8 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 9 Taylor (Ind.) and No. 10 Eastern Oregon round out the top-10 teams behind the aforementioned Spires of Saint Mary (Kan.).
