2025 NJCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 2

NEW ORLEANS – Only one team changed positions among the top-20 in the Week 2 edition of the 2025 NJCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

That lone exception was Iowa Western CC, which continues as No. 1.

The 2025 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Saturday, November 8 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

National Coaches’ Polls are presented by AthleticNET.

NJCAA Division I — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
Iowa Western CC
Hutchinson (Kan.) CC
Iowa Central CC
New Mexico JC
Central Arizona
1
Iowa Western CC
2
Hutchinson (Kan.) CC
3
Iowa Central CC
4
New Mexico JC
5
Central Arizona
Cross Country Polls & Rankings

Iowa Western CC actually strengthened its hold at No. 1, now being a unanimous selection. Led by the 1-2 individual finish of Barnabas Ndiwa and Geofrey Ronoh, the Reivers finished fourth among 25 other teams that were all four-year programs in the Black Championship race at the Gans Creek Classic. Ndiwa won the 8k in 23:42.1, 0.3 seconds ahead of Ronoh as the duo reversed their order from the earlier Platte River Rumble Gold.

Moving up two spots to No. 2 is Hutchinson (Kan.) CC to match their program high from 2020. The Blue Dragons won the team title at the Missouri Southern Stampede as their top-3 of Titus Kiprotich, Cornelius Kogo and Esteban Ortega finished in the top-8. Kiprotich’s performance as individual runner-up earned him last week’s M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week honors.

Iowa Central CC drops a notch to No. 3. The Tritons haven’t fielded a full varsity squad since their opening meet in putting three in the top-5 to win the Hawkeye Invitational on a tiebreaker over host NCAA DI Iowa. The trio was led by individual winner Chakib Cherkaoui Rhazouani with twin brothers Saad Rifi Loutfi and Said Rifi Loutfi going 3-4.

Also dropping down a spot is No. 4 New Mexico JC, despite winning their own Dr. Steve McCleery Invitational. The T-Birds were led by individual winner Mohammed Mrahi, whose 23:39.9 clocking put him No. 8 on the all-time Harry McAdams Park for 8k to earn M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week honors. He finished 18.3 seconds ahead of a previous NAOW recipient, Amantle Modingwane of No. 9 Ranger (Texas), which this week’s biggest riser in the poll.

Another big mover is No. 5 Central Arizona, up six places to match their highest showing since Week 1 of 2022. The Vaqueros won the open division of the UC Riverside Invitational behind the 1-2 finish of Joel Barros and Jayden Smith.

Rounding out the top-10 are No. 6 (tie) Butler (Kan.) CC and Crowder (Mo.), No. 8 Snow (Utah), No. 9 Ranger (Texas) and No. 10 Southern Nevada.

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USTFCCCA NJCAA Division I
Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

2025 Week 2 - October 1st

RANK TEAM & INFOPTSCHANGE
1 iowa-western-cc IOWA WESTERN CC
Midwest Region
Region 11
Marc Bierbaum (8th)
250
(10 fpv)
◀▶
(LW: 1)
2 hutchinson-kan-cc HUTCHINSON (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6
Jafet Molinares (3rd)
237 ▲ 2
(LW: 4)
3 iowa-central-cc IOWA CENTRAL CC
Midwest Region
Region 11
Dee Brown (22nd)
228 ▼ 1
(LW: 2)
4 new-mexico-jc NEW MEXICO JC
West Region
Region 5
Jeff Becker (7th)
223 ▼ 1
(LW: 3)
5 central-arizona CENTRAL ARIZONA
West Region
Region 1
Jonathon Harmon (15th)
201 ▲ 6
(LW: 11)
6 crowder-mo CROWDER (MO.)
Midwest Region
Region 16
Jake Holt (4th)
194 ▼ 1
(LW: 5)
6 butler-kan-cc BUTLER (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6
Mark Emerson (5th)
194 ▲ 1
(LW: 7)
8 snow-utah SNOW (UTAH)
Midwest Region
Region 18
Chase Englestead (2nd)
178 ▼ 2
(LW: 6)
9 ranger-texas RANGER (TEXAS)
West Region
Region 5
James Majenge (2nd)
167 ▲ 7
(LW: 16)
10 southern-nevada SOUTHERN NEVADA
West Region
Region 18
Bryan Astudillo (5th)
160 ▲ 5
(LW: 15)
11 southern-idaho SOUTHERN IDAHO
Midwest Region
Region 18
Janae Richardson (4th)
148 ▼ 3
(LW: 8)
12 garden-city-kan-cc GARDEN CITY (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6
Juliette Rios (3rd)
141 ▼ 2
(LW: 10)
13 colby-kan-cc COLBY (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6
Matthew Scott (1st)
132 ▲ 3
(LW: 16)
14 odessa-texas ODESSA (TEXAS)
West Region
Region 5
Chris Beene (2nd)
113 ▼ 1
(LW: 13)
15 el-paso-texas-cc EL PASO (TEXAS) CC
West Region
Region 5
Felix Hinojosa (26th)
105 ▼ 1
(LW: 14)
16 pima-ariz-cc PIMA (ARIZ.) CC
West Region
Region 1
Chad Harrison (2nd)
94 ▲ 6
(LW: 22)
17 western-texas WESTERN TEXAS
West Region
Region 5
James Williams (13th)
93 ▲ 1
(LW: 18)
18 blinn-texas BLINN (TEXAS)
Atlantic Region
Region 14
Jesse Parker (2nd)
83 ▼ 7
(LW: 11)
19 amarillo-texas AMARILLO (TEXAS)
West Region
Region 5
Sean Hargrove (4th)
76 ▲ 1
(LW: 20)
20 south-plains-texas SOUTH PLAINS (TEXAS)
West Region
Region 5
Wes Miller (1st)
68 ▲ 3
(LW: 23)
21 dodge-city-kan-cc DODGE CITY (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6
Cole Ballard (13th)
50 ◀▶
(LW: 21)
22 hill-texas HILL (TEXAS)
West Region
Region 5
Greg Lautenslager (5th)
39 ▼ 3
(LW: 19)
23 cloud-county-kan-cc CLOUD COUNTY (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6
Drew Mahin (13th)
35 NR
24 vincennes-ind VINCENNES (IND.)
Midwest Region
Region 24
Tyler Steigenga (2nd)
23 ▼ 1
(LW: 23)
25 neosho-county-kan-cc NEOSHO COUNTY (KAN.) CC
Central Region
Region 6
Trey Bruton (5th)
16 NR

Also Receiving Votes: Louisburg (N.C.) 2

Dropped Out: No. 9 Indian Hills (Iowa) CC



Week-by-Week Ranking

TeamPreseasonWeek #1Week #2
Iowa Western CC111
Hutchinson (Kan.) CC442
Iowa Central CC323
New Mexico JC634
Central Arizona15115
Crowder (Mo.)756
Butler (Kan.) CC276
Snow (Utah)868
Ranger (Texas)9169
Southern Nevada181510
Southern Idaho11811
Garden City (Kan.) CC121012
Colby (Kan.) CC191613
Odessa (Texas)51314
El Paso (Texas) CC141415
Pima (Ariz.) CCRV2216
Western Texas1817
Blinn (Texas)101118
Amarillo (Texas)172019
South Plains (Texas)2320
Dodge City (Kan.) CC222121
Hill (Texas)211922
Cloud County (Kan.) CC2323
Vincennes (Ind.)162324
Neosho County (Kan.) CCRV25
Louisburg (N.C.)RV
Indian Hills (Iowa) CC139
Fort Hays Tech Northwest (Kan.)20
Seminole State (Fla.)24
Salt Lake (Utah) CC24
Monroe-New Rochelle (N.Y.)RV

USTFCCCA NJCAA Division I Cross Country

2025 Rankings & Polls Calendar
Weeks National Coaches' Poll KEY DATES
PreseasonWed 8/27
MEN | WOMEN
Week 1Wed 9/17
MEN | WOMEN
Week 2Wed 10/1
MEN | WOMEN
Week 3Wed 10/15
Week 4Wed 10/29
FINAL Results
(official final ranking)
Sat 11/8