Johns Hopkins Women, North Central (Ill.) Men Set to Defend Division III Titles as No. 1

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Johns Hopkins Women, North Central (Ill.) Men Set to Defend Division III Titles as No. 1
November 18, 2013

NEW ORLEANS – North Central (Ill.)’s men and Johns Hopkins’ women will both enter the NCAA Division III Championships as favorites to defend their 2012 national titles, as revealed with the release Monday of the final U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III National Coaches Polls prior to the championships.

NATIONAL PDFs: National Summary | Week-by-Week | All-Time Week-by-Week
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NCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL COACHES POLL TOP 5 – MEN
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
North Central (Ill.). Washington (Mo.) St. Olaf Williams (+1) Middlebury (+1)
View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll
Both squads dominated in their regions this past weekend to retain the top spots in their respective polls, while the positions below them underwent a significant shakeup as a result of regionals as teams around the nation jockeyed for position and qualification ahead of the NCAA Championships this Saturday, Nov. 23, in Hanover, Ind.

NCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL COACHES POLL TOP 5 – WOMEN
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Johns Hopkins Williams (+4) Calvin (+2) Middlebury (-2) Wartburg (-2)
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll
Johns Hopkins’ women were the only team in the top 10 to remain stationary in the poll from two weeks ago, while North Central, No. 2 Washington (Mo.), No. 3 St. Olaf and No. 8 Johns Hopkins were the lone men’s squads to stand pat in the top 10.

Many of the moves were significant with 16 men’s teams moving up — or down — more than five positions in the poll and eight more women’s teams doing the same.

Women
In their final tune-up before defending their 2012 NCAA title, the Johns Hopkins women trounced the Mideast Region field. Individual runner-up Hannah Oneda led four Blue Jays in the top five as they scored 26 points to runner-up Dickinson’s 94. The Blue Jays retained all eight first-place votes.

Williams jumped four spots to No. 2 after taking down former No. 2 Middlebury (now No. 4) in the New England Region, 44-57, behind individual champ Kaleigh Kenny and three other top-10 finishers.

No. 3 Calvin jumped two spots to its highest rank since a No. 1 mark entering the 2009 championships following a decisive 54-104-105 win over No. 15 Oberlin and No. 18 Hope. Individual champion Cassie Vince and fourth-place Nicole Michmerhuizen led the way for the Knights. Calvin will hope for the reverse of that 2009 championship, when it entered No. 1 and finished third.

Middlebury dropped two spots to No. 4 following its loss to Williams in the New England Region. The Panthers were arguably the deepest team in the region with seven top 25 finishers, led by fourth-place Alison Maxwell.

Wartburg, despite winning the Central Region, 86-104, over No. 13 Carleton, fell two slots to No. 5. The Knights had two top-10 finishers led by sixth-place Sammi Bruett, but ran without top runner Alana Enabnit.

No. 6 Chicago moved up one position to No. 6, a spot it has held for much of the season, following a dominant 60-101 victory over No. 14 UW-La Crosse — which increased five positions from the previous poll. Third-place Catherine Young led five top-20 finishers for the Maroons.

Up to its best rank since the beginning of USTFCCCA records in 2006 is No. 7 NYU, which edged out No. 9 St. Lawrence, 97-103, in the Atlantic Region. Ninth-place Emily Cousens paced five top-20 individual finishers for NYU.

St. Lawrence improved seven positions from the previous poll as a result of that close finish, led by third-place finisher Amy Cymerman.

In a loaded New England Region, No. 8 MIT finished third behind No. 2 Williams and No. 4 Middlebury to drop four positions.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps fell two spots to No. 10 despite winning the West Region, 62-81, over No. 25 Willamette.

TCNJ made the poll’s biggest jump, leaping from the "also receiving votes" category to No. 17 with a third-place finish in the Atlantic Region behind No. 7 NYU and No. 9 St. Lawrence. It is the highest rank for the program since it was No. 16 midway through the 2009 season.

Also returning to the poll were No. 29 Luther, No. 31 Ithaca, No. 34 Colby and No. 35 St. Scholastica.

One of the teams TCNJ defeated to make its triumphant jump into the poll was No. 19 SUNY Geneseo, which fell nine spots from last time. Making similar descents were No. 26 Haverford (down 12 positions) and No. 28 Bates (down eight).

Men
Behind individual winner John Crain, North Central (Ill.) cruised to a 56-101 win over No. 2 Washington (Mo.) in the Midwest Region. Each of the Cardinals’ five scorers finished within the top 20 of arguably the most difficult and deepest region in the nation.

For WashU, Kevin Sparks finished sixth to lead four top-25 finishers.

St. Olaf remained steady at No. 3 with a close 51-61 victory over No. 8 Central (Iowa) in the Central Region. Individual runner-up Grant Wintheiser led three Oles in the top six and seven in the top 25.

Central moved up to spots behind individual winner Eli Horton and two other top-10 runners. The Dutch, who fell into the low-30s in the poll at one point during the season, enter the NCAA Championships just one position shy of their No. 7 preseason rank.

No. 4 is where the action began. A fifth-place finish in the Midwest Region dropped former No. 4 UW-La Crosse eight rungs to No. 12, opening the door for another team to move closer to the top.

That team would be Williams, which scraped by Middlebury in the New England Region, 77-78, as the two moved to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Williams recorded two of the top three individuals with runner-up Colin Cotton and third-place Chris Lee, but the Panthers showed more depth with four top-20 finishers to Williams’ three.

UW-Oshkosh jumped five spots to No. 6 with a third-place finish in the Midwest Region, just 17 points behind No. 2 Washington (Mo.). Right behind them in the poll was No. 7 SUNY Cortland, which also moved up five slots based on a 37-62 win over former No. 6 NYU (now No. 11) with individual champ Nick Marcantonio.

Johns Hopkins remained No. 8, though it was joined in a tie with the aforementioned Central (Iowa) squad. The Blue Jays won the Mideast over No. 14 Dickinson, 62-88, behind three top-10 finishers.

No. 10 UW-Eau Claire rounded out the top 10 with its fourth-place finish at the Midwest Championships.

Other significant gains include a five-position increase for No. 15 Wabash — which snapped the nation’s longest region winning streak of 17 by Calvin in the Great Lakes Region; No. 21 Pomona-Pitzer (up 14 spots), No. 22 Luther (up six), No. 23 Bates (up nine), No. 24 Allegheny (Pa.) (up seven), No. 24 CMS (up five), No. 24 Wheaton (Ill.) (up six) and No. 27 Carleton (up six).

Returning to the poll was No. 34 Manchester.

The NCAA Championships will be contested November 23 in Hanover, Ind. NCAA.com will carry live broadcasts of all the NCAA cross country championships.



USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION III
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL
2013 Week #8 — November 18
next poll: none (final rankings, NCAA Championships, November 23)

Rank Institution (FPV) Points Region Conference Head Coach (Yr*) Last
Week
1 North Central (Ill.) (8) 280 Midwest CCIW Al Carius (48th) 1
2 Washington (Mo.) 271 Midwest UAA Jeff Stiles (13th) 2
3 St. Olaf 260 Central MIAC Phil Lundin (6th) 3
4 Williams 253 New England NESCAC Peter Farwell (35th) 5
5 Middlebury 243 New England NESCAC Nicole Wilkerson (3rd) 6
6 UW-Oshkosh 230 Midwest WIAC Eamon McKenna (2nd) 11
7 SUNY Cortland 227 Atlantic SUNYAC Steve Patrick (6th) 12
8 Central (Iowa) 213 Central IIAC Joe Dunham (6th) 10
8 Johns Hopkins 213 Mideast Centennial Bobby Van Allen (15th) 8
10 UW-Eau Claire 210 Midwest WIAC Dan Schwamberger (7th) 9
11 NYU 206 Atlantic UAA Nick McDonough (16th) 6
12 UW-La Crosse 197 Midwest WIAC Derek Stanley (2nd) 4
13 MIT 180 New England NEWMAC Halston Taylor (32nd) 16
14 Dickinson 175 Mideast Centennial Don Nichter (24th) 13
15 Wabash 165 Great Lakes NCAC Roger Busch (8th) 20
16 Tufts 150 New England NESCAC Ethan Barron (9th) 13
17 Haverford 147 Mideast Centennial Tom Donnelly (39th) 15
18 Chicago 126 Midwest UAA Chris Hall (13th) 17
19 Calvin 125 Great Lakes MIAA Brian Diemer (28th) 18
20 SUNY Geneseo 121 Atlantic SUNYAC Mike Woods (22nd) 19
21 Pomona-Pitzer 101 West SCIAC Tony Boston (6th) 35
22 Luther 98 Central IIAC Steve Pasche (9th) 28
23 Bates 85 New England NESCAC Al Fereshetian (19th) 32
24 Allegheny (Pa.) 76 Mideast NCAC Brent Wilkerson (4th) 31
24 Wheaton (Ill.) 76 Midwest CCIW Scott Bradley (12th) 30
24 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 76 West SCIAC John Goldhammer (30th) 29
27 Carleton 69 Central MIAC Dave Ricks (7th) 33
28 Bowdoin 65 New England NESCAC Peter Slovenski (28th) 21
29 Colby 63 New England NESCAC Jared Beers (8th) 26
30 St. Lawrence 55 Atlantic Liberty League John Newman (13th) 27
30 UW-Stout 55 Midwest WIAC Matt Schauf (7th) 25
32 Loras 50 Central IIAC Bob Schultz (9th) 22
33 Carnegie Mellon 42 Mideast UAA Dario Donatelli (21st) 24
34 Manchester 25 Great Lakes HCAC Brian Cashdollar (16th) RV
35 RPI 22 Atlantic Liberty League John Lynch (3rd) 34
Others Receiving Votes: Rochester 20, Willamette 13, Wartburg 10, Swarthmore 10, SUNY Oneonta 8, Brandeis 7, Amherst 6, St. Thomas (Minn.) 5, UW-Platteville 4, Bridgewater (Va.) 3, Mount Union 2, Augustana (Ill.) 2
Dropped Out: No. 23 Willamette, No. 35 UW-Platteville, No. 35 Rochester
(* year as head coach of that team in men’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)



USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION III
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL
2013 Week #8 — November 18
next poll: none (final rankings, NCAA Championships, November 23)

Rank Institution (FPV) Points Region Conference Head Coach (Yr*) Last
Week
1 Johns Hopkins (8) 280 Mideast Centennial Bobby Van Allen (15th) 1
2 Williams 268 New England NESCAC Peter Farwell (14th) 6
3 Calvin 258 Great Lakes MIAA Brian Diemer (8th) 5
4 Middlebury 257 New England NESCAC Nicole Wilkerson (3rd) 2
5 Wartburg 247 Central IIAC Steve Johnson (25th) 3
6 Chicago 243 Midwest UAA Chris Hall (13th) 7
7 NYU 229 Atlantic UAA Nick McDonough (7th) 9
8 MIT 219 New England NEWMAC Halston Taylor (7th) 4
9 St. Lawrence 212 Atlantic Liberty League Mike Howard (15th) 16
10 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 207 West SCIAC John Goldhammer (30th) 8
11 Trinity (Texas) 199 South/Southeast SCAC Derick Lawrence (2nd) 12
12 Tufts 182 New England NESCAC Kristen Morwick (14th) 11
13 Carleton 176 Central MIAC Donna Ricks (21st) 15
14 UW-La Crosse 168 Midwest WIAC Derek Stanley (2nd) 19
15 Oberlin 162 Great Lakes NCAC Ray Appenheimer (8th) 13
16 Dickinson 155 Mideast Centennial Don Nichter (24th) 20
17 TCNJ 150 Atlantic NJAC Justin Lindsey (1st) RV
18 Hope 136 Great Lakes MIAA Mark Northuis (26th) 18
19 SUNY Geneseo 135 Atlantic SUNYAC Mike Woods (22nd) 10
20 St. Olaf 131 Central MIAC Chris Daymont (33rd) 22
21 Washington (Mo.) 125 Midwest UAA Jeff Stiles (13th) 17
22 Brandeis 107 New England UAA John Evans (10th) 22
23 Marywood 106 Mideast Colonial States Kevin Borrelli (6th) 26
24 SUNY Oneonta 97 Atlantic SUNYAC Angelo Posillico (4th) 24
25 Willamette 72 West Northwest Matt McGuirk (10th) 28
26 Haverford 70 Mideast Centennial Fran Rizzo (23rd) 14
26 UW-Stevens Point 70 Midwest WIAC Megan Craig (5th) 27
28 Bates 69 New England NESCAC Jay Hartshorn (9th) 21
29 Luther 67 Central IIAC Yarrow Pasche (9th) NR
30 Ohio Wesleyan 53 Great Lakes NCAC Matt Wackerly (4th) 31
31 Ithaca 44 Atlantic Empire 8 Erin Dinan (2nd) NR
32 Hamilton 34 Atlantic NESCAC Ellen Hull (21st) 32
33 Elizabethtown 32 Mideast Middle Atlantic Brian Falk (6th) 33
34 Colby 31 New England NESCAC Deb Aitken (29th) NR
35 St. Scholastica 12 Central UMAC Steve Pfingsten (22nd) NR
Others Receiving Votes: Mount Union 11, Whitworth 7, Emory 6, St. Benedict 6, Aurora 5, Case Western Reserve 2
Dropped Out: No. 25 Case Western Reserve, No. 29 Vassar, No. 30 St. Benedict, No. 33 Loras, No. 35 Whitworth
(* year as head coach of that team in women’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)




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