2018 NCAA DII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 1
NEW ORLEANS – Adams State kept its hold as the No. 1 team in the country as the Grizzlies once again collected all eight first place votes to occupy the top spot for the second-straight week to open the season.
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Adams State is coming off a second-place finish at the Mountaineer/Cowboy Invite, a meet led by the eighth-place performance of Tiffany Christensen (5K in 18:52.2).
Like their men’s unit, Adams State has yet to run its full roster on the women’s side.
Improving one spot into a tie for second is No. 2 Western State who won its Mountaineer/Cowboy Invite this past weekend. The Mountaineers captured the title with a perfect score of 15 points and were led by individual champion Sophie Seward (5K in 18:28.63).
Remaining at No. 2, albeit this time in a tie, is Grand Valley State who is fresh off a second-place showing at the Spartan Invitational as the Lakers placed all five scoring runners in the top-20 of the meet.
Sarah Berger was the top Division II finisher and fifth athlete overall as she posted a time of 21:41.8 for the 6K course. She was named the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week for her performance.
Holding pat at No. 4 was U-Mary who is coming off a team victory at the MSUM Dragon Twilight in early September. Jaiden Schuette claimed the individual title at the meet with a 17:47.3 showing for the 5000-meter course.
Completing the top-five with a one spot improvement was No. 5 Augustana (S.D.) who has only raced once so far this year. The Vikings placed third overall behind South Dakota and Nebraska at the Augustana Twilight meet and will race again at the Roy Griak Invitational on September 29.
The No 6-10 spots were all occupied with familiar faces as No. 6 Chico State and No. 7 Alaska Anchorage each improved one from the preseason while Colorado Mines remained at No. 8 and Simon Fraser improved two spots to No. 9. Despite a small fall of five No. 10 Hillsdale remained in the nation’s top-ten.
The No. 11-15 slots also saw a ton of movement with the biggest jump in the poll belonging to No. 12 Dallas Baptist who improved seven spots from the preseason.
Big improvements were also seen by No. 14 Cal Poly Pomona (improved four spots) and Edinboro (improved five spots).
Michigan Tech also started to climb the ranks and improved four spots to No. 20.
In total 19 of the top teams in the preseason poll changed places from their previous rank. No. 18 Point Loma Nazarene, No. 23 Drury and No 25 Azusa Pacific also joined the top-25 for the first time this year.
Also receiving votes was Pittsburg State and Tampa.
