2025 NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Preseason

NEW ORLEANS – Cross country is back.

Here is the 2025 preseason edition of the NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday. USTFCCCA polls and rankings are presented by AthleticNET.

NCAA Division II — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
Wingate
Colo. School of Mines
Adams State
Grand Valley State
Western Colorado
1
Wingate
2
Colo. School of Mines
3
Adams State
4
Grand Valley State
5
Western Colorado
Cross Country Polls & Rankings

Three points is all that separated champion Colo. School of Mines and runner-up Wingate at the 2024 NCAA Championships. The Orediggers and the Bulldogs fought tooth-and-nail throughout the 10k distance as the former won 63-66. Fast forward to today and Colo. School of Mines and Wingate sit No. 1 and No. 2 in the poll, but in a different order.

The top-ranked Bulldogs welcome back just a single member from their previous nationals campaign, Antonin Saint-Peyre, who finished as an All-American (22nd). Fear not though, as Luca Poppe and Joaquin Campos will fill in a few gaps, bringing along their third-place and sixth-place finishes from the Southeast Regional Championship. And it’s hard to ignore their newcomers. Take Mohamed Damouch for example, a sophomore that made the jump from Iowa Central CC with a 1500m national title already to his name. This is just the second time in program history that Wingate is ranked No. 1 in the preseason.

A few votes behind sit the Orediggers. Dubbed “deeper and older than they’ve been in the past,” Colo. School of Mines will look to unearth the same success they found last year. Four All-Americans remain between Ethan Grolnic (ninth), Paul Knight (21st), Dawson Gunn (25th), and Jeremiah Vaille (37th) and a possible fifth-man emerged this spring in Max Bonenberger, an All-American in the steeplechase. He’ll have some healthy competition for that spot from Charles Welch, a Colorado transfer who posted an 8:50 steeplechase in his own right. This marks a decade that No. 2 Colo. School of Mines has started the season as a top-5 team. 

Consensus for the No. 3 spot landed on Adams State. The top-end All-American duo of Kidus Begashaw (14th) and Julian Campos (30th) will be back for another go, paving the way for Housem Hrabi (44th), Nathan Scherbarth (130th), David Millan (140th) to roar up the charts. As if that wasn’t enough, the Grizzlies recruited a few international transfers of their own. The spotlight is on Luca Madeo, the German half marathon national champion and the NAIA national champion in the 5k and 10k.

Grand Valley State was awarded No. 4 in the preseason edition. The Lakers return Koby Fraaza (27th) and Brock Wooderson (44th) from their 2024 NCAA Championships roster. The pair should be able to calm the waters while they wait for the rest of the team to make some waves. Owen Westerkamp will likely lead that charge after finishing 20th at the Midwest Regional Championships. GVSU also has Conor Somers and Andre Richmond, who both ran 14:07 or faster over the 5k distance.

Rounding out the list at No. 5 is Western Colorado. With their highest ranking in four years, the Mountaineers are in good shape, bringing back five of their top-seven. RMAC Freshman of the Year, Oliver Diaz, set off fireworks last fall, securing the final All-American spot (40th). Tyler Nord (43rd) and Branden Davis (81st) don’t have to too far a hike to catch-up. With Davis & Elkins transfer Jan Thewes joining during the offseason, experience becomes the only question here. 

No. 6 East Central (Okla.), No. 7 Chico State, No. 8 West Texas A&M, No. 9 Colorado Christian, and No. 10 Saginaw Valley State round out the top-ten teams.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 22, because that’s when the 2025 NCAA DII Cross Country Championships will be held at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 

Athletic.net
Presenting sponsor of USTFCCCA Polls and Rankings

USTFCCCA NCAA Division II
Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

2025 Preseason - September 3rd

RANK TEAM & INFOPTS2024
FINAL
1 wingate WINGATE
Southeast Region (1)
SAC
Pol Domenech (6th)
238
(6 fpv)
2
2 colo-school-of-mines COLO. SCHOOL OF MINES
South Central Region (1)
RMAC
Chris Siemers (14th)
234
(2 fpv)
1
3 adams-state ADAMS STATE
South Central Region (2)
RMAC
Damon Martin (31st)
224 3
4 grand-valley-state GRAND VALLEY STATE
Midwest Region (1)
GLIAC
Jerry Baltes (27th)
214 5
5 western-colorado WESTERN COLORADO
South Central Region (3)
RMAC
Jennifer Michel (19th)
206 9
6 east-central-okla EAST CENTRAL (OKLA.)
Central Region (1)
GAC
Steve Sawyer (17th)
203 8
7 chico-state CHICO STATE
West Region (1)
CCAA
Gary Towne (30th)
190 6
8 west-texas-am WEST TEXAS A&M
South Central Region (4)
Lone Star
Zach Daniel (4th)
182 4
9 colorado-christian COLORADO CHRISTIAN
South Central Region (5)
RMAC
Evan Verbal (2nd)
171 11
10 saginaw-valley-state SAGINAW VALLEY STATE
Midwest Region (2)
GLIAC
Rod Cowan (16th)
169 17
11 northwest-missouri NORTHWEST MISSOURI
Central Region (2)
MIAA
Wick Cunningham (5th)
157 10
12 lee-tenn LEE (TENN.)
South Region (1)
GSC
Caleb Morgan (12th)
154 16
13 lewis LEWIS
Midwest Region (3)
GLVC
James Kearney (12th)
152 12
14 uc-colorado-springs UC-COLORADO SPRINGS
South Central Region (6)
RMAC
Mark Misch (19th)
131 15
15 western-washington WESTERN WASHINGTON
West Region (2)
GNAC
Ben Stensland (3rd)
125 13
16 charleston-w-va CHARLESTON (W.VA.)
Atlantic Region (1)
Mountain East
Nick Bias (12th)
116 29
17 washburn WASHBURN
Central Region (3)
MIAA
David Granato (7th)
113 24
18 cal-poly-pomona CAL POLY POMONA
West Region (3)
CCAA
Chris Bradford (9th)
109 21
19 michigan-tech MICHIGAN TECH
Midwest Region (4)
GLIAC
Robert Young (2nd)
103 23
20 alabama-huntsville ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE
South Region (2)
GSC
David Cain (28th)
85 22
21 walsh WALSH
Midwest Region (5)
G-MAC
Rob Mizicko (14th)
79 ---
22 northwest-nazarene NORTHWEST NAZARENE
West Region (4)
GNAC
Greg Mitchell (2nd)
73 ---
23 pittsburg-state PITTSBURG STATE
Central Region (4)
MIAA
Ben Barrows (5th)
62 7
24 shippensburg SHIPPENSBURG
Atlantic Region (2)
PSAC
Steve Spence (28th)
60 20
25 biola-calif BIOLA (CALIF.)
West Region (5)
PacWest
Sean Henning (11th)
44 26
26 drury DRURY
Midwest Region (6)
GLVC
Luke Karamitros (2nd)
34 ---
27 anderson-s-c ANDERSON (S.C.)
Southeast Region (2)
SAC
Kevin Eagle (9th)
28 31
28 fort-lewis FORT LEWIS
South Central Region (7)
RMAC
Dalton Graham (2nd)
22 ---
29 illinois-springfield ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD
Midwest Region (7)
GLVC
Emmons King (4th)
15 ---
30 missouri-western MISSOURI WESTERN
Central Region (5)
MIAA
Sean Gosewisch (2nd)
12 ---

Also Receiving Votes: Mississippi College 8, Augustana (S.D.) 7



Week-by-Week Ranking

TeamPreseasonWeek #1Week #2
Wingate111
Colo. School of Mines222
Adams State333
Grand Valley State444
Colorado Christian955
Lee (Tenn.)1266
Chico State777
Western Colorado588
Northwest Missouri11119
West Texas A&M81010
Saginaw Valley State101210
Cal Poly Pomona181312
Pittsburg State232013
UC-Colorado Springs141514
Lewis131415
Western Washington151616
Charleston (W.Va.)161717
Fort Lewis281918
Washburn171819
Michigan Tech192720
Alabama-Huntsville202121
Davis and Elkins2422
Shippensburg242223
Biola (Calif.)252323
Walsh212525
Missouri Southern26
Augustana (S.D.)RV2927
Illinois-Springfield29RV28
East Central (Okla.)6929
Tampa2630
Anderson (S.C.)2730RV
Mississippi CollegeRVRV
CedarvilleRV
Northwest Nazarene2228
Azusa PacificRV
Drury26
Missouri Western30

USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Cross Country

2025 Rankings & Polls Calendar
Weeks Regional RankingsNational Coaches' Poll KEY DATES
PreseasonTue 9/2
MEN | WOMEN
Wed 9/3
MEN | WOMEN
Week 1Tue 9/16
MEN | WOMEN
Wed 9/17
MEN | WOMEN
Week 2Tue 9/23
MEN | WOMEN
Wed 9/24
MEN | WOMEN
Week 3Tue 9/30
MEN | WOMEN
Wed 10/1
Week 4Tue 10/7
Wed 10/8
Week 5Tue 10/14
Wed 10/15
Week 6Tue 10/28
Wed 10/29
Week 7Wed 11/12
Thu 11/13
FINAL Results
(official final ranking)
Sat 11/22
Sun 11/23