2025 NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 1

NEW ORLEANS – They’re off and running.

Here is the newest edition of the NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings for the 2025 season, as 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 November 15, which is where one team from each region will automatically qualify for the 2025 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships.

EAST REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 Tufts

Next in Line: No. 2 MIT

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 WPI, No. 4 Colby, No. 5 Bowdoin

Notes: Tufts took the top spot over MIT as the Jumbos, led by senior Cullen McCaleb, won the George Suitor Invitational in Manchester, Connecticut. Tufts beat Connecticut College over the 5000 meter race with 34 points as it put five runners in the top eleven of the meet. The Jumbos had an overall spread of 45 seconds through their top five, with their sixth and seventh runners only one second behind. This close knit core will be key for Tufts going into the rest of the season.

MIT is now ranked second in the region and holds its cards close to its chest as its have its season opener on September 20 at the Wesleyan Cardinal Invitational in Middletown, Connecticut. WPI also holds their third spot in the region, yet Colby rises from sixth to fourth in the region after their 6k win over formerly fifth-ranked Bowdoin and fourth-ranked Bates.

GREAT LAKES REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 Hope

Next in Line: No. 2 Case Western

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 Otterbein, No. 4 Mount Union, No. 5 Rose-Hulman

Notes: Hope holds onto its top spot in the region as it beat NYU from the Niagara Region at the Eye Opener XC Meet at the eventual national meet site in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Sophomore Logan Begeman led Hope in 14th place as his teammates Ian Petruska and Elias Kretchmar finished together in 25:19. Following are Carston Cole and Lucas Guidone who round off the Hope men with a spread of 40 seconds.

Case Western rises in the rankings due to their victory over John Carroll. This was quite the overwhelming victory as the Spartans won with a perfect score of 15 and a spread over 6k of 21 seconds. If this wasn’t enough, the Spartans put 16 of their runners in the top 20 overall. Otterbein soars to the third spot led by senior Payne Ratliff as they beat formerly fifth place Mount Union and tenth place Ohio Northern. Despite this loss, Mount Union bumps up to fourth and Rose-Hulman also rises to fifth.

METRO REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 Moravian

Next in Line: No. 2 Rowan

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 Swarthmore, No. 4 Haverford, No. 5 TCNJ

Notes: With no jostling for position in the top-three team sports in the Metro Region, the teams of Moravian, Rowan, and Swarthmore all maintain their preseason order as they have not competed against each other, or any other regional favorites. Moravian opened its season at the Lehigh Invitational with a fifth place finish. Senior Brian Kerchner led the way for the Greyhounds with a 19th place finish while the team maintained a 32 second spread.

The main change in this region is that of Haverford swapping spots with TCNJ.

MID-ATLANTIC REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 Johns Hopkins

Next in Line: No. 2 Carnegie Mellon

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 Lebanon Valley, No. 4 Dickinson, No. 5 Misericordia

Notes: Johns Hopkins holds its top spot over the Mid-Atlantic Region as they finish second as a team at the Virginia Invitational. Senior Emmanuel Leblond finished third overall surrounded by Virginia’s men while his teammates Anthony Clark and Rowan Cassidy round out in the top-ten finishers. The Blue Jays will look to continue their dominance this season as they were ranked among the best teams in Division III for the preseason.

Carnegie Mellon also maintained its second place ranking in the Mid-Atlantic as they had a dominant performance at the RMU Colonial Cross Country Invitational. The Tartans won the meet with 38 points. CMU was led by senior Ryan Podnar with teammates Matthew Short, Oliver Moss, Adam Kollgaard, and Tanay Parikh putting themselves as a majority in the top-12 finishers. Misiercordia rises to fifth place after being sixth in the preseason as it won the Cougar Classic at home with 43 points led by Rashaun Jeffrey.

MIDEAST REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 RPI

Next in Line: No. 2 Williams

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 Wesleyan, No. 4 Amherst, No. 5 Middlebury

Notes: RPI maintains their hold on the Mideast Region as it won the Vassar Ron Stonitsch Invitational with 39 points over second ranked Williams. This early season win was aided by junior Danny Gall’s fifth place finish and his teammates Joey Smith, Dominic Pena, Sam Gunther, and Colin Golschmidt rounding out the top 10 finishers. This core group of runners will have to maintain their low spread if they want to hold off the Ephs in future competition.

Williams remained second in the Mideast as it finished that same invite with 55 points and were led by sophomore Malcolm Oakes in third with a 19:18 finish over 6k. His teammate Keiyu Mamiya finished sixth just behind RPI’s top runner, but it was not enough as their core finished just within the top twenty five finishers. The Ephs look to compete further in October at the Keene State Invitational. 

MIDWEST REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 Wartburg

Next in Line: No. 2 North Central (Ill.)

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 UChicago, No. 4 Washington University, No. 5 Loras

Notes: The Knights lead the way for the Midwest Region as they maintain a close group with five runners in the top six overall. This close spread by Wartburg will be key in the future as they race the Interregional Rumble in October. Veteran runners such as Lance Sobaski, Tyler Schermerhorn, Isaiah Hammerand, and Jack Kinzer are what aid the Knights as they have a majority of upperclassmen in their top group along with sophomore Ayden Buchanan.

North Central maintains its second place in the region as it competed at their home meet and won with 15 points. Junior BJ Sorg led the Cardinals as he broke away from the field and ran his own race. He won in a time of 24:26. The Cardinals look to compete further and improve on their regional ranking as they visit the DIII Pre-Nationals meet at the national meet course in Spartanburg, SC. Washington (Mo.) jumps from fifth to fourth in the Midwest as the Bears win their home meet with a perfect score and have a close group with a spread of 10 seconds.

NIAGARA REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 SUNY Geneseo

Next in Line: No. 2 NYU

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 RIT, No. 4 Hamilton, No. 5 Rochester (N.Y.)

Notes: SUNY Geneseo remains at the top of the Niagara Region as it won the Fisher-Rodenbeck XC Invite in Rochester, New York. The Knights won with 17 points with sophomore Collin Brown taking second overall in 19:05 over the 6k course. Other teammates that rounded out the top-seven finishers were Ian Zehnder, James Tette, Owen Murphy, and Sean Verbosky. The Geneseo men maintained a spread of 41 seconds with some gaps between each other between the top three runners.

NYU also stays second in the Niagara Region as it competed at the Eye Opener XC Meet and the Jasper XC Invitational. At the Eye Opener Meet, the Violets lost to Hope from the Great Lakes Region. Despite this loss, the NYU men look to the Paul Short Invite in Pennsylvania to race other regional opponents. RIT rises to third in the region as it defeated SUNY Brockport at the Tom Balon Alumni Classic with the Tiger’s very own senior Derick Koen being the runner-up in 15:37 over the 5k course. Hamilton falls to fourth as Rocherster (N.Y.) holds at No. 5.

NORTH REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 UW-La Crosse

Next in Line: No. 2 St. Olaf

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 UW-Whitewater, No. 4 UW-Steven’s Point, No. 5 UW-Platteville

Notes: The Eagles of UW-La Crosse hold their top ranking as they hold off on their top runners racing at the Phoenix Open in Green Bay and reserve them for the upcoming St. Olaf College Invitational. The defending national champions have a plethora of opportunities waiting for them as they are the national title favorites and seek victory at important meets such as the Augustana College Interregional Invitational.

St. Olaf holds onto its second place ranking as it only raced its home invites so far. The Oles look to hold this ranking as they host an invitational against many other teams such as UW-La Crosse. As of the first meet, senior Kevin Turlington leads the way for the Oles running 16:00 over the 5k course at the St. Olaf Ole Opener.

The Warhawks of UW-Whitewater held themselves at third in the region as they went down to Naperville to visit North Central’s home opener. UWW did not run their top runners as it is likely biding their time til the Blugold Invitational in October. UW-Stevens Point stays at fourth as they won the Phoenix Open in Green Bay and the Pioneers of UW-Platteville stay fifth as they look to travel to Madison, Wisconsin, at the Badger Classic.

SOUTH REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 Washington & Lee

Next in Line: No. 2 Lynchburg

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 Emory, No. 4 Pfeiffer, No. 5 Roanoke

Notes: The Generals of Washington & Lee hold the top spot in the regional as they competed at the VT Invitational in Blacksburg. The duo of sophomores Sam Daunt and William Dunaway held their own finishing tenth and eleventh respectively. Their third place finish was accompanied by their teammates finishing out in the top-44 finishers of the field.

The Hornets of Lynchburg maintained their second place spot as they competed at the Liberty Opener with sophomore Alex Paciello finishing 12th overall with teammates Alex Jordan, Cameron Sidebotham, Jack Weddle, and Aidan Riggle rounding out the top-17 finishers.

Emory and Pfeiffer hold the third and fourth spots. The Eagles finished eighth as a team at the Queen City Invitational and the Falcons won their home invite with five of their runners in the top seven. Roanoke rose to fifth as they were within five points of third ranked Emory at the Queen City Invitational.

WEST REGION

Projected AQ: No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer

Next in Line: No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Also in the Hunt: No. 3 Colorado College, No. 4 UC Santa Cruz, No. 5 George Fox

Notes: The Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer maintained their top spot in the West as they competed at the Cougar Challenge in San Marcos, California. The Sagehen men finished second overall with senior Jack Stein finishing third in 24:20 along with teammates Owen Irving and Jefferson Wright finishing in 13th and 14th place. At this meet, the Sagehens put five men in the top-21 overall and look to compete next and sharpen their spread at the UC Riverside Invite.

The Stags of CMS keep their second place ranking as they won the Coyote Challenge in San Bernardino with a perfect score of 15. The top finisher for the Stags was Hayden Beuchemin who finished second overall behind an unattached athlete in 24:57. Other teammates followed suit with Jonas Rickert finishing sixth overall in 25:17 with a great overall spread for the Stags headed into the DIII Pre-National meet this weekend.

Colorado College stays at third in the region as the Tigers finish third at the UCCS Rust-Buster in Colorado Springs led by Will Shuflit. UC Santa Cruz stays at fourth in the region and George Fox also stays at fifth.