2017 NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll — Week 6
NEW ORLEANS – There’s a new king in town.
For the first time since the final week of the 2016 season, Colorado Mines shot to the top of the NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday. That fact can be attributed to the outstanding weekend by the Orediggers in Chadron, Nebraska.
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It was there that Colorado Mines captured the RMAC Cross Country Championship thanks to 1-2 finishes from juniors Grant Colligan (24:59.5) and Ricardo Ocampo (25:12.9). Additionally, four other runners finished within the top-10, while the Orediggers’ seventh runner wrapped up in 12th place. The Orediggers claimed all eight first-place votes in the rankings this week.
At the RMAC Championships, Colorado Mines defeated Adams State, who was knocked out of first place in the polls for the first time this season – and for just the 14th time in the last 80 polls. The Grizzlies slipped down to third, having been leapfrogged by both Colorado Mines and Grand Valley State. The Lakers captured the GLIAC Cross Country Championship to bump them up a spot from third.
Chico State held down its spot in fourth place coming off a CCAA Cross Country Championship-winning performance. The Wildcats’ Kyle Medina (24:16.3) and Connnor Fisher (24:23.4) finished 1-2 in that race, while the next five runners wrapped up inside the top-10.
The next four teams in the polls all moved up one spot from a week ago. Mount Olive (fifth), Cal Baptist (sixth), Augustana (S.D.) (seventh) and Southern Indiana (eighth) all moved ahead of Cal Poly Pomona (ninth), which fell four spots.
Mount Olive notched a perfect score at the Conference Carolinas Cross Country Championships to put them back in fifth place after falling to sixth in the last poll. The Trojans’ Jonathan Dahlke (26:14.5) led the pack, but all five scorers finished within 1.3 seconds of one another.
Cal Baptist posted a victory at the PacWest Championships with rookie McMarshall Hartzenburg (24:53.7) winning that race to jump to sixth. Augustana (S.D.) picked up the win at the NSIC Championships while Austin Nolan’s (24:28.7) winning-performance at the GLVC Conference Championships allowed Southern Indiana to move up to eighth.
Cal Poly Pomona finished second to Chico State at the CCAA Cross Country Championships. Queens (N.C.) rounded out the top-10, winning the South Atlantic Championship.
Western State made a nice leap in the rankings, moving up six spots to 12th after a third-place finish at the RMAC Championships. The ranking is the highest on the season for the Wildcats.
Also moving up in the polls were Alaska Anchorage (t-16th), Shippensburg (20th) and Central Missouri (23rd), while Rogers State (21st), Simon Fraser (22nd) and American International (24th) all returned to the top-25.
