2017 NCAA DIII Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 3

NEW ORLEANS – Big changes befell two regions in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Regional Rankings.

In the most recent Regional Rankings released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the Great Lakes Region and New England Region saw numerous revisions.

REGIONAL RANKINGS – SUMMARY PDF
REGIONAL RANKINGS – 2017 Week By Week
REGIONAL RANKINGS – All-Time Week By Week

For those who don’t know or need a refresher, the USTFCCCA Regional Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each of the eight respective regions. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning teams’ strength with current season results (if applicable) in determining team finishing order at the upcoming NCAA Division III Regional Cross Country Championships.

This year the NCAA Division III Regional Championships will be held on Saturday, November 11.

Atlantic Region

SUNY Geneseo’s men proved their mettle with a win over No. 2 RPI at the Purple Valley Classic. The Knights had to work for it, though, as the Engineers didn’t go down without a fight (Final score was 87-95). Isaac Garcia-Cassani got the individual win for SUNY Geneseo.

TCNJ remains in third and is followed by St. Lawrence, a team that climbed from No. 8 to No. 4. Rowan rounds out the top-5 after falling from No. 4.

SUNY Geneseo’s women finished third at the Purple Valley Classic behind MIT and Canadian program McGill and is still on top of the Atlantic Region. RPI settles in behind the Knights once again, but behind the Engineers are the Saints from St. Lawrence. Rounding out the top-5 on the women’s side is Ithaca and TCNJ.

Central Region

Everything remained the same in the men’s top-5 as Loras, St. Olaf, Wartburg, Carleton and Nebraska Wesleyan make up that group.

Over in the women’s rankings, Carleton and St. Olaf are No. 1 and No. 2, but Wartburg and Nebraska Wesleyan jumped St. Thomas (Minn.) for the third and fourth spot in the region.

Great Lakes Region

The men’s rankings in the Great Lakes Region look completely different from one week ago. Calvin is still No. 1, but Albion jumped from No. 6 to No. 2 following a standout effort at the MIAA Jamboree this past weekend. The Britons finished runner-up to Calvin and were paced by Andrew Bill, who took home the individual title. Albion matched its best ranking in program history as it was also No. 2 back in 2010.

Otterbein, John Carroll and Mount Union are No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

Hope’s women took over the No. 1 spot from Calvin after an easy win at the MIAA Jamboree. The Flying Dutch finished with a 1:06 spread between its No. 1 through No. 5.

Otherwise, nothing changed in the top-5 as Oberlin, Kenyon and Otterbein round it out.

Mideast Region

Little changed to either set of rankings in the Mideast Region.

The men’s index looks something like this: No. 1 Johns Hopkins, No. 2 Haverford, No. 3 Carnegie Mellon, No. 4 Dickinson and No. 5 Elizabethtown.

Here is the women’s top-5: No. 1 Johns Hopkins, No. 2 Dickinson, No. 3 Elizabethtown, No. 4 Haverford and No. 5 Carnegie Mellon.

Midwest Region

The only change in the Midwest Region occurred in the women’s top-5.

The men’s ranking still sees North Central (Ill.) up top, followed by No. 2 UW-La Crosse, No. 3 UW-Eau Claire, No. 4 Washington (Mo.) and No. 5 UW-Stevens Point.

Washington (Mo.) is the leader in the women’s index and is trailed by No. 2 Chicago, No. 3 UW-La Crosse, No. 4 UW-Eau Claire and new-No. 5 Wheaton (Ill.).

New England Region

Williams is no longer the No. 1 men’s team in the New England Region after what transpired at the Purple Valley Classic. That distinction belongs to Amherst, which finished third behind SUNY Geneseo and RPI and two spots in front of the now third-ranked Ephs.

MIT remained No. 2, while Middlebury and Bates are fourth and fifth, respectively.

The women of MIT rolled to the team title at the Purple Valley Classic and stay No. 1. Williams finished fourth and remains No. 2 in the rankings, while Middlebury, Bates and Tufts round out the top-5 in the same spots they were in Week 2.

South/Southeast Region

Nothing changed in the men’s or women’s rankings in the South/Southeast Region.

The men’s top-5 still features No. 1 Christopher Newport, No. 2 Emory, No. 3 Rhodes, No. 4 Washington and Lee and No. 5 Trinity (Texas).

The women’s top-5 sees Emory leading the way with Rhodes, Trinity (Texas), Centre and Lynchburg taking up residence from No. 2 to No. 5.

West Region

Both top-5s are identical to what you saw in Week 2.

Atop the men’s index is Pomona-Pitzer with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Occidental, Willamette and Lewis & Clark in order behind it.

The women’s billing is headlined by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with Whitworth, Pomona-Pitzer, Occidental and Linfield in spots No. 2 through No. 5.