2021 NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 6
NEW ORLEANS – Leave it to Conference Championships Weekend to shake things up!
Here is the Week 6 edition of the NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday. A total of 21 teams have a new place on the leaderboard and three new teams are making a top-30 appearance.
There will be no National Coaches’ Poll released next week as teams gear up for Regional Championships Saturday on November 6. The Pre-Championships edition of the National Coaches’ Poll will be released on Wednesday, November 10.
NCAA Division II — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State
2
Colo. School of Mines
Colo. School of Mines
3
Adams State
Adams State
4
Augustana (S.D.)
Augustana (S.D.)
5
Wingate
Wingate
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
After four consecutive weeks, there is no longer a tie for the top spot.
Grand Valley State is the lone No. 1 in Week 6. The Lakers, who received seven first-place votes, made it look easy at the GLIAC Championships with 25 points to capture their 19th straight conference title. The Lakers’ top-5 runners went 1-2-6-7-9 as Isaac Harding won the individual crown.
Colorado School of Mines received one first-place vote and come in at No. 2. The Orediggers were impressive in winning the program’s third straight RMAC title over No. 3 Adams State, 28-47. Dillon Powell led the team with an individual title and all five runners finished in the top-30.
Augustana (S.D.) remained at No. 4 and for good reason. The Vikings became the first team since 1999 to win the NSIC title with a perfect score, and brought home the program’s 11th crown in the last 12 years. Austin Miller led the Vikings’ scoring contingent as he won the individual crown by more than 12 seconds.
Wingate continues to have a record breaking season, this time soaring to their first top-5 appearance in school history. The Bulldogs jumped four spots to No. 5 after capturing the South Atlantic Conference title, taking down former No. 18 (now No. 21) Queens (N.C.) 24-60. Felix Nadeborn paced the team with his runner-up finish and led all scorers to top-9 finishes.
No. 9 Alabama-Huntsville improved their billing by two spots to climb back into the top-10. The Chargers captured their third-straight Gulf South Conference title and beat former No. 8 (now No. 10) Lee (Tenn.) by 10 points. The Chargers were able to overcome the Flames’ 1-2 punch and placed all five runners in the top-10.
No. 11 Lewis (up five from No. 16), No. 20 Fresno Pacific (up seven from No. 27) and No. 23 Augusta (up five from No. 28) each moved multiple spots in Week 6 thanks to favorable results over Conference Championships Weekend: the Flyers successfully defended their GLVC title with 42 points; the Sun Birds swept the top-3 individual finishes en route to winning the PacWest Championships; the Jags scored 15 points to win the Peach Belt Conference Championships and put up the conference’s first perfect score in 27 years.
Three teams moved from the Land of Receiving Votes: No. 14 Illinois-Springfield placed second at the GLVC Championships; No. 25 Michigan Tech earned runner-up honors at the GLIAC Championships; No. 27 West Texas A&M rolled to the Lone Star Conference title to win by 101 points.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 20, as the 2021 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships will take place at Abbey Golf Course in Tampa, Florida!
