2025 NJCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Ranking – Week 4
NEW ORLEANS – Eight of the top-10 teams have new positions in the Week 4 edition of the 2025 NJCAA Division III Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Ranking, released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
This is the final set of rankings before the 2025 NJCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, which will be held at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on Saturday, November 8.
National Coaches’ Rankings are presented by AthleticNET.
NJCAA Division III — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Mineral Area (Mo.)
Mineral Area (Mo.)
2
Joliet (Ill.) JC
Joliet (Ill.) JC
3
DuPage (Ill.)
DuPage (Ill.)
4
FIT (N.Y.)
FIT (N.Y.)
5
Kellogg (Mich.) CC
Kellogg (Mich.) CC
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
The top-5 programs are in a different order for the fifth time this year, and the jumbling of the rankings helps to explain the wide-open team battle anticipated by many.
One mainstay is defending champion Mineral Area (Mo.), which continues at No. 1 for the third-straight rankings. Led by individual winner Clay Whittenburg, the Cardinals won the Region 16 Championships, 24-31, over preseason No. 1 Jefferson (Mo.), now No. 6.
Rising two positions to No. 2 is Joliet (Ill.) JC, which last won the national team title when the meet was held in Fort Dodge in 2020. The Wolves jumped ahead of No. 3 DuPage (Ill.) by virtue of winning a close Region 4 title, 25-30. The Chaps were led by individual champ Jessica Balmer, who was 17.3 seconds ahead of Joliet’s Gabby Zid. DuPage is looking to match or better its highest team finish in the nationals – third in 2021.
The week’s biggest mover was FIT (N.Y.), jumping four places to No. 4. The Tigers won the Region 15 title as part of the St. Joseph’s (Long Island) Invitational, led by individual runner-up Mikayla Numkena. FIT’s highest finish at the nationals is third in 2019.
Kellogg (Mich.) CC dropped three notches to No. 5 despite earning DIII honors in the DII-heavy Region 12 Championships. The Bruins, who were led by DIII champ Alicyn Gleesing, have been No. 1 or No. 2 in every previous ranking this year; their program-high finish is second in 2020, when the meet was last held at Fort Dodge.
After Jefferson at No. 6, the rest of the top-10 is comprised of No. 7 Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC, No. 8 Georgia Military, No. 9 Oxford (Ga.) and No. 10 Herkimer County (N.Y.) CC.
