2025 NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 8
NEW ORLEANS – It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Here is the Pre-Championships Edition of the NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). All USTFCCCA polls and rankings are presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division III — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Williams
Williams
2
NYU
NYU
3
MIT
MIT
4
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins
5
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Regional Championships Weekend left little doubt about the title contenders heading into Saturday at the Roger Millikin Cross Country Course in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The top nine teams remain unchanged: Mideast champion Williams is unanimous at No. 1, followed by Niagara champion NYU at No. 2, defending national champion and East runner-up MIT at No. 3, Mid-Atlantic champion Johns Hopkins at No. 4, West champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at No. 5, North champion UW-La Crosse at No. 6, Mid-Atlantic runner-up Carnegie Mellon at No. 7, Great Lakes champion Trine at No. 8, and Mideast runner-up Middlebury at No. 9.
If anything, Regional Championships Weekend reinforced why Williams and NYU are expected to battle for the national title. The Ephs placed all seven runners in the top ten – including four in the top ten – and cruised to a 57-point win over Middlebury in Canton, New York. Meanwhile, in Rochester, the shorthanded Violets topped SUNY Geneseo, 52-64, despite competing without star sophomore Ashlyn Pallota, who recently claimed the UAA title.
Williams and NYU already met earlier in the season at the Connecticut College Invitational, joined by MIT, Johns Hopkins, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps – in the deepest regular-season field ever assembled. Once the dust settled, the Ephs emerged on top, outdistancing MIT by 24 points, 73-97. The Blue Jays took third in Waterford, followed by the Athenas and the Violets.
From a historical perspective, Williams is chasing its fourth national title, while NYU has never reached the top of the NCAA podium (the Violets were second in 2023, though). MIT and Johns Hopkins know what it takes to win on the biggest stage, combining for five of the past six championships. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps has yet to claim a national title, but came within two points of winning in 2021, finishing a close runner-up to the Blue Jays.
The women’s race on Saturday goes off at 11 am ET.
