2024 NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 7
NEW ORLEANS — Conference Championships Weekend shook up the Week 7 rankings of the NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA).
National Coaches’ Polls are presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division III — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
MIT
MIT
2
Colorado College
Colorado College
3
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins
4
Chicago
Chicago
5
NYU
NYU
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
MIT continues to hold its ground in the No. 1 position. The Engineers posted an almost perfect team score of 16 points at the NEWMAC Championships. Junior Kate Sanderson ran home with the individual title in a time of 21:40, while teammates Lexi Fernandez, Christina Crow, and Gillian Roeder finished right behind in second, third, and fourth, respectively. The Engineers will look to ride this high to the NCAA DIII East Regional Championships on November 16.
Colorado College sits No. 2 and shows why its the presumptive challenger. The Tigers won the SCAC Championships with a perfect team score of 15 points. Senior Sydney Rankin paved the way for the Tigers, taking the individual crown in a time of 22:11. Colorado College has great momentum leading up to the NCAA DIII West Regional Championships on November 16.
Johns Hopkins had similar results to Colorado College, dominating the Centennial Conference Championships with a perfect team score of 15 points. This win helped solidify its No. 3 rankings in Week 7. The Blue Jays will travel to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania on November 16 for the NCAA DIII Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships.
Rounding out the top-5 are No. 4 UChicago and No. 5 NYU. The Maroons and Violets battled at the UAA Championships, with UChicago claiming the team title in 38 points over NYU’s 60 points. The Maroons head to the NCAA DIII Midwest Regional Championships in Rock Island, Illinois, while the Violets prepare for the NCAA DIII Niagara Regional in Fredonia, New York.
Deeper down the top-30, Lynchburg skyrocketed eight places to No. 17 after an impressive runner-up team finish at the ODAC Championships. The Hornets finished only five points behind No. 12 Washington and Lee, which won the team title with 35 points.
The 2024 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships are just 17 days away! The meet will be held on Saturday, November 23, in Terre Haute, Indiana at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
Gwyneth Young is a junior studying criminal justice and communications at Elizabethtown College. She is a distance runner on the Blue Jays cross country and track and field teams, where her main events are the 1500 and the 5000. She is originally from Lebanon, Pennsylvania and graduated from Cedar Crest High School, where she ran cross country and track and field as well.
