2025 NJCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 3
NEW ORLEANS – The top-3 continued in order for a fourth-straight poll (including the Preseason version) in the Week 3 edition of the 2025 NJCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
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 — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Odessa (Texas)
Odessa (Texas)
2
Iowa Western CC
Iowa Western CC
3
New Mexico JC
New Mexico JC
4
El Paso (Texas) CC
El Paso (Texas) CC
5
Southern Idaho
Southern Idaho
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Odessa (Texas) is a unanimous No. 1 for the third poll in a row. The Wranglers were second at the Thunderbird Open, but that was without their top-2 runners, Milicent Wafula and Salma Saddoug. Wafula hasn’t been beaten by another NJCAA athlete this season.
No. 2 Iowa Western CC also features a runner undefeated among JUCO runners as Juliana Sakat now has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week three times this season. Her latest effort came in winning the Fort Hays State Tiger Open in 16:40.0, a program best that supplanted the 16:41.8 by two-time NJCAA DI champ Faith Linga.
New Mexico JC continues at No. 3 despite fielding incomplete teams in its past two meets, both without the services of Yiddiya Bifa, who has won both the races she’s started this fall. She’s the top returning individual from last year’s NJCAA DI Championships, having finished third before transferring from Iowa Central CC.
Moving up three positions is El Paso (Texas) CC to No. 4, its highest since Week 2 of 2022. The Tejanas won both the ENMU Ruidoso Classic and New Mexico JC’s Thunderbird Open, the former with a perfect 15 points. Two different runners have led the way – freshmen Faith Rotich and Tadiwa Mabvuka, respectively.
Southern Idaho dropped one notch to No. 5. The Golden Eagles were the top JUCO squad at both Idaho State’s Bengal Invitational and Utah State’s Steve T. Reeder Memorial with Laurie Davidson and Edith Neslen, respectively, leading the way. CSI’s 1-5 gap at the Bengal Invitiational was just 11.7 seconds.
Rounding out the top-10 are No. 6 Ranger (Texas), No. 7 Crowder (Mo.), No. 8 Hutchinson (Kan.) CC, No. 9 Iowa Central CC and No. 10 Central Arizona.
