2025 NCAA DII Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 1

It’s officially cross country season!

We’re several weeks into what hopes to be an extremely exciting season for NCAA DII Women’s Cross Country with plenty of new faces making their impact, and teams making their case for national championship spots. With that, here is the newest edition of the NCAA DII Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings for the 2025 season, which were released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Regional Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning teams’ strength with current season results (if applicable) in determining a rank-order of squad potential. Only USTFCCCA member programs are eligible to receive a ranking. Teams with provisional status within the region may be ranked.

Regional Championships Saturday is set for Saturday, November 8.

Atlantic Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Davis & Elkins, No. 2 Slippery Rock, No. 3 Kutztown 

Also in the Hunt: No. 4 East Stroudsburg, No. 5 Shippensburg

Many teams solidified their spots as top contenders for automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships.

Davis & Elkins’s was extremely impressive with a third place finish behind Carnegie Mellon & Walsh at the RMU Colonial XC Invite whilst resting one of their low sticks at regionals last year.

Slippery Rock is showing early promise taking a win at the Doug Watts Open, led by Ruthie Hughes. The Rock ran a deep team with a short 15 second spread between their sixth and seventh runner.

Kutztown has proven it should be in the automatic bid conversation with a strong appearance at its home meet, which saw its ranking elevated from fifth to third this week. Maura Lenhart is emerging as one to watch, as she lead the Golden Bears to a win over regional rival East Stroudsburg.

Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg are still in the hunt if they can further build their depth.

Central Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Pittsburg State, No. 2 Minnesota State, No. 3 Rogers State

Also in the Hunt: No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, No. 5 Augustana (S.D.),

Pittsburgh State has jumped to the No. 1. spot in the Central Region after a promising preseason results at an Alumni meet, and their fifth place finish race at Bolivar City Municipal without any of their top returners racing.

Minnesota State picked up key transfers in the summer that have made an immediate impact to their roster and its ranking, as it jumped from No. 7 to No. 2. The Mavericks’ second place finish by a significant margin at Sioux Falls meet by a significant margin is a strong start that shows underdog potential to steal the regional title.

Rogers State took home a win this last week, that has proven their depth to be an automatic qualifier. Nebraska-Kearney had a solid appearance in a competitive meet that has led them to rise four places in this’s week rankings.

East Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Roberts Wesleyan, No. 2 Southern Connecticut State, No. 3 Jefferson (PA.)

Also in the Hunt: No. 4 Bentley, No. 5 D’Youville

Roberts Wesleyan has a strong front runner in Rachel Horner-Richardson with a deep pack to match. Southern Connecticut State has very similar strengths with a strong low stick, and a deep team. Jefferson (PA) had a strong showing at their home meet, and was fourth at DII/DII Challenge at Kutztown. In order to compete for the title the Rams will need to rely on their depth and a tight spread without a traditional major low stick.

Bentley ran strong in the Hartford CT 3km, but they will need progression from the back half of their roster to secure an automatic bid.

Midwest Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Grand Valley State, No. 2 Lewis, No. 3 Cedarville

Also in the Hunt: No. 4 Walsh, No. 5 UW-Parkside

Grand Valley State remains No. 1 after a strong showing at the MSU Spartan Invitational. The Lakers finished third overall, toppling NCAA DI programs such as Cincinnati and Michigan.

Lewis will be looking to make its mark known at the National Catholic Invite this weekend. The Flyers will look to their team’s underclassmen for development in order to achieve the same success of last year’s sixth place NCAA Championships finish.

Cedarville might be overlooked for now, as it has yet to open its season, but you can expect this team to be sneaky good with many runners with NCAA experience.

The RMU Colonial Cross Country Invitational was highlighted by a strong performance by Walsh with a meet winner and a runner up team finish. UW-Parkside had two front runners in front of Winona State for a strong showing. The key for Rangers will be how good their third to fifth runners can develop as the season progresses.

South Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Lee (Tenn.), No. 2 Tampa, No. 3 Mississippi College 

Also in the Hunt: No. 4, Nova Southeastern, No. 5 West Florida

Lee (Tenn.) ran at the Southern Showcase, and beat many notable Division 1 teams such as Florida State, Jacksonville St, Miami (Fla.), and Delaware in hot conditions. The Flames performed notably with a significant margin over the nearest Division II team.

Tampa took an effortless victory over regional opponents with a close spread the week before last. Meanwhile, Mississippi College has clearly developed their team over this off season with their usual low stick being their third runner. The Choctaws were led by Bre Bell to finish as the second highest placing Division II team in the Southern Showcase

Nova Southeastern dropped one place in rankings after the Keiser University Flagship Cross Country Invitational. The large spread of their runners, and missing one of their key returners may be their greatest concern. 

South Central Regional

Projected AQ: No. 1 Adams State, No. 2 West Texas A&M, No. 3 Colo. School of Mines

Also in the Hunt: No. 4 Western Colorado, No. 5 UC-Colorado Springs

Adams State produced a dominant home meet at the Joe Vigil Open where they scored five runners in the top six.

West Texas A&M continues to prove they are a regional title contender with a strong performance at the Texas Tech Open, with three key returners from last year’s national runner up performance, and two upcoming younger talents.

Colorado School of Mines remains third ranked this week, while Western Colorado rose to fourth.

Southeast Regional

Projected AQs: No. 1 Wingate, No. 2 Catawba, No. 3 Flagler

Also in the Hunt: No. 4 Lincoln Memorial, No. 5 Anderson (S.C.)

The Wingate Bulldogs remain a powerhouse in this conference. This past week they ran at Queen City Invite to open their season, but it looks as though their A squad will be in full force at Lehigh’s meet on the third of October.

Catawba won their home meet, and will look to tighten their spread in order to rival the Bulldogs come November. Flagler also secured the win easily this past week whilst not racing their best runners.

West Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Stanislaus State, No. 2 Chico State, No. 3 CAL Poly Pomona

Also in the Hunt: No. 4 Point Loma Nazarene, No. 5 Biola

Stanislaus State are poised to stay on the top of this week’s rankings with an exciting win against multiple regional rivals this week at the Kim Duyst 6k. Chico State is ready to give the Warriors a tough battle only trailing by five points with a 21:33 average time at the same meet this past week. The Wildcats displayed incredible depth with a twelve second spread.

Cal Poly Pomona’s had a tight team as well with a 20 second spread, and focused on pack running to beat regional rival Point Loma Nazarene.