Favorites Remain Entrenched In NAIA Women’s XC Top 25

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Beacons of Northwest Christian (Ore.) have once again garnered all first-place votes to maintain their position in the No. 1 spot during the latest NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday.

The final edition will be released by 7 p.m. CDT on Sunday, Nov. 6. The NAIA Cross Country National Championship qualifiers will be released by 5 p.m. CDT on Monday, Nov. 7.

Top 25 highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):

• For the fifth-straight poll this season, Northwest Christian (Ore.) is the No. 1 program in the NAIA. With 19 first-place votes and 529 total points, the Beacons remain in their ranking. 
• Northwest Christian continues its dominance, having been ranked now 31-straight polls in the top 10, with the last time it fell out being Sept. 18, 2013 (No. 11). 
• No. 5 Oklahoma City is the lone newcomer to the top five, as The Master’s (Calif.) slid one spot to No. 6. The rest of the top five remains the same. 
• No. 16 St. Francis (Ill.) bounced up eight spots to highlight the positive movement in the ratings. This is the highest St. Francis has been spotted this season. SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) moved forward four spots to No. 9, while No. 12 Southern Oregon and No. 22 Benedictine (Kan.) both crawled up three spots from previous rankings.
• Eight programs were pushed back this edition, but still maintain places within the poll. Only two teams dropped out of the Top 25, with (RV) Hastings (Neb.) and (RV) Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) getting pushed out.  
• The two newcomers to the rankings are No. 18 Wayland Baptist (Texas) and No. 24 Southeastern (Fla.). Wayland Baptist finds itself being ranked for the first time since the 2014 season. Southeastern is making its first appearance on the Top 25 Poll in program history.  
• Twelve of the 21 conference/Association of Independent Institutions are represented, with no new conferences showing representation in this week’s poll.
• The Cascade Collegiate Conference once again brings four programs to the poll, led by No. 1 Northwest Christian. The Golden State Athletic Conference is represented by three teams, and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, Sooner Athletic Conference, Appalachian Athletic Conference, Frontier Conference, Crossroads League and Great Plains Athletic Conference each show two squads.
• Former NAIA-member Simon Fraser (B.C.) has the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 40. Northwest (Wash.) leads all active NAIA schools with 18 No. 1 mentions. 
• Only three teams have previously gone the entire season ranked No. 1 – British Columbia (2013), Simon Fraser (2005, 2006 and 2007) and Northwest (2003).
• No. 13 Lewis-Clark State makes its 149th-consecutive appearance in the Top 25, the longest active streak in the NAIA dating back to Sept. 21, 2001.

Dropped from the Top 25: No. 17 Hastings (Neb.); No. 21 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)

Others receiving votes: Hastings (Neb.) 95; Madonna (Mich.) 85; Dalton State (Ga.) 65; Siena Heights (Mich.) 47; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 37; Tennessee Wesleyan 29; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 15; William Jessup (Calif.) 13; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 7; Friends (Kan.) 6; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 5; Doane (Neb.) 3.