Colorado Mines Men & Western State Women Make Gains in Division II National Coaches Polls

Colorado Mines Men & Western State Women Make Gains in Division II National Coaches Polls
October 2, 2013

NEW ORLEANS – The state of Colorado experienced significant cross country success this past weekend, which is reflected in a pair of its Division II teams making movements in the top five of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Coaches Polls released Wednesday.

NATIONAL PDFs: National Summary | Week-by-Week | Week-by-Week All-Time
REGIONAL PDFs: Regional Summary | Week-by-Week
Division II XC Rankings Central

Western State’s women moved into a tie with Augustana (S.D.) at No. 3, while the Colorado Mines men jumped two places to No. 4 in their poll to give Colorado two of the three best women’s squads and three of the nation’s top four men’s teams.

Men
NCAA DIVISION II NATIONAL COACHES POLL TOP 5 – MEN
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Adams St. Western St. GVSU Colorado Mines (+2) Chico St. (-1)
View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll
In what was the biggest move in either the men’s or women’s top 10, Colorado Mines — runner-up at the NCAA Championships a year ago — jumped two spots to No. 4 following a head-to-head Stanford Invitational victory over Chico State, which was ranked No. 4 a week ago but relinquished its spot to CSM and dropped to No. 5 this week.

Now firmly back in the top five, Colorado Mines and its four returning All-Americans from a year ago will take a crack and digging even farther into the top five.

Among the three teams ahead of the Orediggers — all of which remained stationary in the polls — were two from Colorado: No. 1 Adams State and No. 2 Western State. Grand Valley State came in at No. 3 once more.

Adams State, without 2012 NCAA Championships fourth-place individual finisher Matt Daniels, took fourth among 22 Division I schools and ahead of Grand Valley State (12th) at the Merrill Fischbein Men’s Gold Division I race at the Roy Griak Invitational. National Athlete of the Week Kevin Batt was half a step from the individual title and teammate Tabor Stevens finished just behind in third as the Grizzlies were just eight points away from a top-three team finish.

RMAC rival Western State turned in a similarly strong performance at the Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout, where the Mountaineers finished runners-up to No. 2 Colorado of Division I. Sophomore Vegard Olstad led the way with a third-place finish, second among collegians, to pace three Mountaineers within the top eight collegiate finishers.

The Augustana (S.D.) men won the Maroon II race at the Griak in convincing fashion, but not convincingly enough to prevent dropping one spot to No. 6.

No. 7 Southern Indiana was idle both on the course and in the polls, while No. 8 Edinboro moved up one spot after breaking a tie with Alaska Anchorage, which fell to 10. Missouri Southern now occupies the No. 9 position after a one-spot slide.

Joining the poll for the first time this season and the second time in program history is UC San Diego at No. 18 — an all-time high for the Tritons, who made one other appearance at No. 28 toward the end of the 2012 season.

In a tie at No. 22, Sioux Falls joined the top 25, while Cal Poly Pomona made a return to the poll. Sioux Falls’ mark is the highest in program history, up from No. 32 near the end of 2012 in its only other appearance. Cal Poly Pomona was No. 25 in week one of this season.

Women
NCAA DIVISION II NATIONAL COACHES POLL TOP 5 – WOMEN
1) 2) t3) t3) 5)
GVSU Adams St. Augustana (S.D.) Western St. (+1) Alaska Anchorage
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll
At the Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout, the Western State women finished runner-up to Division I Colorado and second among nine teams. Junior Tara Richardson finished 10th overall to lead the Mountaineers, who placed three runners within the first 16 finishers.

Meanwhile, Augustana (S.D.) — the team with which WSCU is tied — won the Maroon II race at the Roy Griak Invitational, led in race-record fashion by winner and now-two-time National Athlete of the Week Runa Falch.

The top two women’s teams remained stationary as No. 1 Grand Valley State and No. 2 Adams State — another Colorado team — finished ninth and 11th, respectively, in the Jack Johnson Women’s Gold Division I section of the Griak among 25 other Division I squads.

In non-Colorado top-10 women’s action, Chico State defeated Simon Fraser head-to-head at the Stanford Invitational as the two swapped spots to No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. No. 8 Southern Indiana, No. 9 Metro State and No. 10 UC-Colorado Springs held steady to round out the top 10.

New to the women’s polls were former National Athlete of the Week Jennifer Agnew and her No. 21 U-Mary team, and No. 23 Columbus State, while No. 24 Shippensburg rejoined the poll.

No. 17 Pittsburg State was the big gainer this week with a five-spot increase after a third-place team showing at the Roy Griak Maroon II race behind individual runner-up Jessica Macy.

The Division II National Championships will be held Saturday,November 23, in Spokane, Wash.

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL RANKINGS
2013 Week #3 — October 2
next release: October 9

Rank Institution (FPV) Points Region Conference Head Coach (Yr*) Last
Week
1 Adams State (7) 199 South Central RMAC Damon Martin (19th) 1
2 Western State (1) 193 South Central RMAC Jennifer Michel (7th) 2
3 Grand Valley State 178 Midwest GLIAC Jerry Baltes (15th) 3
4 Colorado Mines 175 South Central RMAC Chris Siemers (2nd) 6
5 Chico State 170 West CCAA Gary Towne (18th) 4
6 Augustana (S.D.) 159 Central NSIC Tracy Hellman (13th) 5
7 Southern Indiana 158 Midwest GLVC Mike Hillyard (16th) 7
8 Edinboro 136 Atlantic PSAC Rick Hammer (1st) 9
9 Missouri Southern 133 Central MIAA Bryan Schiding (1st) 8
10 Alaska Anchorage 128 West GNAC Michael Friess (24th) 9
11 New Mexico Highlands 115 South Central RMAC Bob DeVries (22nd) 11
12 Mount Olive 106 Southeast Conf. Carolinas Matt van Lierop (5th) 13
13 American International 102 East Northeast-10 Leo Mayo (8th) 12
14 Lock Haven 91 Atlantic PSAC Aaron Russell (16th) 14
15 Central Missouri 86 Central MIAA Kirk Pedersen (27th) 16
16 Cedarville 76 Midwest G-MAC Paul Orchard (11th) 15
17 Metro State 72 South Central RMAC Nick Maas (1st) 17
18 UC San Diego 57 West CCAA Nate Garcia (7th) RV
19 Malone 56 Midwest GLIAC Jack Hazen (47th) 19
20 West Texas A&M 45 South Central Lone Star Darren Flowers (5th) 22
21 Shippensburg 40 Atlantic PSAC Steve Spence (16th) 21
22 Cal Poly Pomona 20 West CCAA Octavious Gillespie-Bennett (2nd) RV
22 Sioux Falls 20 Central NSIC Grant Watley (2nd) RV
24 Ashland 18 Midwest GLIAC Trent Mack (4th) 25
25 Southwest Baptist 15 Central MIAA Corey McElhaney (6th) 20
25 Stonehill 15 East Northeast-10 Karen Boen (16th) 23
Also Receiving Votes: UC-Colorado Springs 14, Humboldt State 8, Alabama-Huntsville 6, Montana St.-Billings 6, Neb.-Kearney 2, Franklin Pierce 1
Dropped Out: No. 18 Humboldt State, No. 23 UC-Colorado Springs
(* year as head coach of that team in men’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)



USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL RANKINGS
2013 Week #3 — October 2
next release: October 9

Rank Institution (FPV) Points Region Conference Head Coach (Yr*) Last
Week
1 Grand Valley State (8) 200 Midwest GLIAC Jerry Baltes (15th) 1
2 Adams State 192 South Central RMAC Damon Martin (26th) 2
3 Augustana (S.D.) 179 Central NSIC Tracy Hellman (13th) 3
3 Western State 179 South Central RMAC Jennifer Michel (7th) 4
5 Alaska Anchorage 168 West GNAC Michael Friess (24th) 5
6 Chico State 160 West CCAA Gary Towne (18th) 7
7 Simon Fraser 152 West GNAC Brit Townsend (14th) 6
8 Southern Indiana 146 Midwest GLVC Mike Hillyard (17th) 8
9 Metro State 133 South Central RMAC Nick Maas (1st) 9
10 UC-Colorado Springs 125 South Central RMAC David Harmer (2nd) 10
11 Indiana (Pa.) 113 Atlantic PSAC Joey Zins (5th) 11
12 UW-Parkside 108 Midwest GLVC Micah VanDenend (4th) 12
13 Minnesota Duluth 97 Central NSIC Joanna Warmington (3rd) 14
14 Edinboro 90 Atlantic PSAC Rick Hammer (1st) 13
15 Malone 77 Midwest GLIAC Jack Hazen (23rd) 17
16 Hillsdale 72 Midwest GLIAC Andrew Towne (3rd) 18
17 Midwestern State 63 South Central Lone Star Koby Styles (7th) 16
17 Pittsburg State 63 Central MIAA Russ Jewett (28th) 22
19 Tampa 57 South Sunshine Jarrett Slaven (15th) 15
20 California (Pa.) 52 Atlantic PSAC Daniel Caulfield (8th) 19
21 U-Mary 32 Central NSIC Dennis Newell (8th) NR
22 Stonehill 30 East Northeast-10 Karen Boen (16th) 21
23 Columbus State 24 Southeast Peach Belt J.D. Evilsizer (9th) RV
24 Shippensburg 15 Atlantic PSAC Steve Spence (16th) RV
24 Dallas Baptist 15 South Central Heartland Conference Jacob Phillips (9th) 24
Also Receiving Votes: Southwest Baptist 14, Ferris State 14, Cal State Stanislaus 11, Alabama-Huntsville 7, Wingate 6, Merrimack 3, Seton Hill 1, UC San Diego 1, Missouri Southern 1
Dropped Out: No. 20 Southwest Baptist, No. 23 West Texas A&M, No. 24 Cal State Stanislaus
(* year as head coach of that team in women’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)




U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
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Contact: Kyle Terwillegar
Communications Assistant
kyle@ustfccca.org
(504) 599-8905