NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Poll

Men's Cross Country
Southern Oregon No. 1 in Final Edition of NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Poll
Top-five teams captured team titles at respective conference/independent/unaffiliated group meets

Nov. 7, 2010

Contact: Amanda Dahl, NAIA Manager of Sports Information and Media Services, adahl@naia.org


KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the sixth-consecutive poll, Southern Oregon has earned the top ranking in the NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Sunday. The Raiders received 12 first-place votes for 640 points in the final poll of the 2010 season. Baptist (Texas) climbed to No. 2 behind 10 first-place nods and is three points behind Southern Oregon with 637. Shawnee State (Ohio) tallied one first-place vote, but slipped back to third. Malone (Ohio) held at No. 4 and Embry-Riddle (Fla.) bumped to No. 5.

The final rating comes following the competition of conference/independent/unaffiliated group meets. Team and individual qualifiers for the 2010 NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championships will be announced Monday by 5 p.m. CST. The 55th annual event will take place at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash., on Nov. 20. For more information on the NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championships, please click here.

Fifteen conferences and independents were recognized in the Top 25, with six boasting multiple teams in the poll. The Golden State Athletic Conference leads the charge with four listed teams: No. 11 The Master’s (Calif.), No. 18 Azusa Pacific (Calif.), No. 23 California Baptist and No. 24 Vanguard (Calif.). Boasting a trio of Top-25 teams are the Cascade Collegiate Conference and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, while three other leagues landed two programs on the poll.

After 19 teams held position in the Nov. 3 edition of the Top 25 poll, only a mere three squads retained their previous ranking: Southern Oregon, Malone and No. 12 Graceland (Iowa.). Teams from the WHAC were responsible for the biggest moves, both positive and negative, throughout the Top 25. Siena Heights (Mich.) took home the conference team title with 35 points and was rewarded with a nine-spot jump in the poll to No. 13. In contrast, Aquinas (Mich.) plummeted 11 spots to No. 17 after finishing second with 45 points.

Both ninth-ranked Oklahoma Christian and 10th-ranked Eastern Oregon climbed six spots with runner-up finishes at the Sooner Athletic Conference and CCC Championships, respectively.

A second-place showing from British Columbia at the Association of Independent Institutions meet pushed the Thunderbirds back from No. 8 to 15. Vanguard took fourth at the GSAC race, but fell five spots, to No. 24 in the poll.

Two teams, No. 23 California Baptist and No. 25 Black Hills State (S.D.), return to the Top 25 after a three-week absence. The Lancers placed third at the GSAC meet, while the Yellow Jackets won the Dakota Athletic Conference race. Great Falls (Mont.) and Concordia (Ore.) fell out of the poll.

The Top 25 was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups.

RANK LAST WEEK SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) TOTAL POINTS
1 1 Southern Oregon University (12) 640
2 3 Wayland Baptist University (Texas) (10) 637
3 2 Shawnee State University (Ohio) (1) 618
4 4 Malone University (Ohio) 589
5 7 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) 551
6 5 Bryan College (Tenn.) 542
7 10 California State University-San Marcos 481
8 9 Concordia University (Neb.) 454
9 15 Oklahoma Christian University 453
10 16 Eastern Oregon University 429
11 13 The Master's College (Santa Clarita, Calif.) 418
12 12 Graceland University (Iowa) 410
13 22 Siena Heights University (Mich.) 401
14 11 College of Idaho 386
15 8 University of British Columbia 382
16 14 Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) 363
17 6 Aquinas College (Mich.) 361
18 21 Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) 303
19 17 Shorter University (Ga.) 297
20 18 University of St. Francis (Ill.) 282
21 20 Cedarville University (Ohio) 273
22 25 Cornerstone University (Mich.) 183
23 RV California Baptist University 166
24 19 Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, Calif.) 122
25 RV Black Hills State University (S.D.) 119

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma Baptist University 115; University of Great Falls (Mont.) 83; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 83; Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) 65; Concordia University (Ore.) 63; McKendree University (Ill.) 59; Southwestern College (Kan.) 32; Indiana Wesleyan University 23; Milligan College (Tenn.) 18; Biola University (Calif.) 10; Dakota State University (S.D.) 5; Morningside College (Iowa) 1; Simon Fraser University (B.C.) 1; Westmont College (Calif.) 1.