2022 NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 4
NEW ORLEANS – The season is heating up!
Here is the newest edition of the NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll for the 2022 season, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday afternoon. Remember that this poll is conducted by counting votes from eight member coaches – one from each of the division’s eight regions – who also do the Regional Rankings.
NCAA Division II — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Colo. School of Mines2
Adams State3
Grand Valley State4
Wingate5
Lee (Tenn.)Cross Country Polls & Rankings
If you aren’t one of the top-6 teams, chances are you found a new home in Week 4.
The Lewis Crossover was one of the big reasons for all of the shakeups. We’ll start at No. 7 Colorado Christian. The Cougars gained two spots this week after taking home the team title in Romeoville, Illinois with 47 points. CCU, led by a 2-3 punch from Trent Cochran and Josh Pierantoni, had their scoring runners place in the top-20 to win by 33 points.
Illinois-Springfield and Western Washington saw massive gains from their second and third-place finishes, respectively, at the Lewis Crossover. The Prairie Stars sent their scoring athletes across the line in the top-30, including three in the top-15, to edge the Vikings by a mere two points, 80-82. WWU placed all of their scoring runners in the top-21 (7-16-18-20-21) but couldn’t overcome the early lead Illinois-Springfield built. Both teams finished ahead of fourth-place Michigan Tech, who fell five spots to No. 19.
Saginaw Valley State soared back into the top-30 to No. 21 after finishing six points behind Michigan Tech, 102-108. Dayton Brown, the reigning M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week, was the ultimate low stick that led the Cardinals to a top-5 finish and a notable win over new No. 22 Alabama-Huntsville, who fell four spots from No. 18.
Over at the UW-Parkside Lucian Rosa Invitational, team champion UC-Colorado Springs improved one spot to No. 14. Afewerki Zeru led the Mountain Lions as they placed their scoring runners in the top-17 for 44 points. Runner-up UW-Parkside, previously not ranked, comes in at No. 26 for its first top-30 appearance since 2016. The Rangers come in right ahead of new No. 27 Wayne State (Mich.) (down 10 spots) after topping the Warriors in the team standings.
Two other big moves come from the likes of No. 20 Simon Fraser and No. 30 Biola (Calif.). SFU improved 10 spots from No. 30 after posting a perfect score at the San Francisco Invitational. The Eagles are ranked for the first time this season following their third-place finish at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, coming within 12 points of new No. 23 Cal Poly Pomona (down three spots) and ahead of NCAA DIII Pomona-Pitzer, the defending national champions.
Mark your calendars for Friday, December 2, as the 2022 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships will take place at Chambers Bay Golf Club in Tacoma, Washington!
