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
Miguel Bonilla (1st)
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

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
MEN | WOMEN
Week 4Wed 10/29
MEN | WOMEN
FINAL Results
(official final ranking)
Sat 11/8
MEN | WOMEN