2024 NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With conference championships completed, there’s only one race left – the 2024 NAIA Cross Country Championships next Friday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.
NAIA — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Taylor (Ind.)
Taylor (Ind.)
2
Milligan (Tenn.)
Milligan (Tenn.)
3
Saint Mary (Kan.)
Saint Mary (Kan.)
4
The Master's (Calif.)
The Master's (Calif.)
5
Montreat (N.C.)
Montreat (N.C.)
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
A lot of pre-Championships dust appears to have settled, as the final NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – released on Monday evening by the NAIA National Office – has no change among the top-9 programs.
Taylor (Ind.) remains a strong No. 1 after winning the Crossroads League Championships with 29 points. They were led by freshman Jaynie Halterman, who is undefeated in five races this year. The Trojans will be seeking their first national title since 2022. How good is the Crossroads League? They have the most teams qualified for the nationals with five. Halterman knows the Gans Creek 6k course, having won the open division of the Gans Creek Classic in 33 seconds in 20:56.7 back in September.
No. 2 Milligan (Tenn.) knows a thing or two about tough conference competition – they won the Appalachian Athletic Conference by just three points (31-34) over No. 5 Montreat (N.C.). The Buffaloes might be better known on the national level after winning the 2021 team title along with being top-10 in each of the last five years, while the Cavaliers’ best nationals finish is 11th in 2020 (the edition that the race was held in April 2021).
The Appalachian rivals both have impressive leading runners – Montreat with freshman Heather Murphy, who has won her only two races this year. Milligan could be led by either Ellen-Mary Kearney or Alyssa Bearzi (Kearney is 4-1 head-to-head). Bearzi was national individual champion as a freshman in 2021 (and runner-up in 2022), while Kearney was conference champion last year, when Bearzi didn’t compete. Kearney’s older sister, Emily, was a two-time national runner-up for SCAD Atlanta before winning an NAIA national 5k/10k track double as a grad transfer at Milligan.
Saint Mary (Kan.) continues at No. 3 after a perfect score of 15 points at the KCAC Championships that saw their top-4 nearly inseparable as the top-4 while their next four runners completed a 1-8 sweep. The Spires’ best-ever finish at nationals is their third place from last year. They are usually led by Reagan Hiebert, who was sixth individually at last year’s nationals; twin sister Riley has been close to her in their last two races.
The Master’s (Calif.) – last year’s team runner-up – is No. 4 after a dominating win at the Great Southwest Athletic Conference Championships with 17 points. The Mustangs were led by Hannah Fredericks, who was the team’s top runner in last year’s nationals with a 10th-place finish. Fredericks is undefeated this year against NAIA competition, winning four of her six races outright. One of those victories was by 54.3 seconds at September’s Larry Young Invitational at the Gans Creek course, winning the 5k race in 17:36.7.
Completing the top-10 are No. 6 defending national champion College of Idaho, No. 7 Cumberlands (Ky.), No. 8 Dordt (Iowa), No. 9 Grace (Ind.) and No. 10 SCAD Savannah (Ga.).
