THE CONNING TOWER by Keith Conning: North Central (Ill.) Picked as Preseason Favorite in DIII Men’s Cross Country

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

September 2, 2015

NEW ORLEANS – The road to a men’s title in NCAA Division III Cross Country goes through North Central (Ill.), according to the national rankings released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday.
Each of the eight voters selected the Cardinals as the team to beat. It would be tough to disagree with them since North Central (Ill.) won four of the past six team titles in Division III, including back-to-back crowns in 2011-12 and most recently in 2014. The Cardinals bring back three of its top five scoring runners from last year’s national meet, including All-American Aron Sebhat.
National PDFs: Preseason Top 30 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All Time
Regional Rankings: Preseason Summary | Preseason Recap

NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Men
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
North Central (Ill.)	St. Olaf	UW-Eau Claire	Amherst	Washington (Mo.)
View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll

Next in line, according to the poll, are St. Olaf and Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Two All-Americans return for St. Olaf (Jake Campbell and Paul Escher), but they’ll need to replace three graduated seniors. UW-Eau Claire finished seventh at last year’s national meet and all five runners who scored for the Blugold are back.
Rounding out the top 5 are Amherst out of the New England Region and Washington (Mo.) from the Midwest Region. Amherst was ninth at NCAAs last November, while Washington (Mo.) earned a spot on the podium (fourth) and returns five of its seven runners from that squad.
There was a little bit of movement elsewhere in the top 10 as St. Lawrence (10th to sixth), MIT (eighth to seventh), Wisconsin-La Crosse (third to eighth) and Williams (sixth to ninth) all shifted around in the poll. Perhaps the biggest jump was from Tufts, rounding out the top 10 after finishing 22nd at the national meet last year.
Another team with an impressive surge in the poll was that of Carnegie Mellon. The team finished 24th at last year’s meet, but start the preseason ranked No. 12. Carnegie Mellon sits behind Wabash (11th) and in a tie for 12th with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Other teams making an appearance in the first poll of the season include Calvin and Middlebury (both tied for 16th), Johns Hopkins (20th) and Emory (30th). This is Middlebury’s first time ranked in the preseason poll in school history. Emory makes its first appearance in the preseason poll since 2010.
The Division III Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, November 21 at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III
Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2015 Preseason — September 2
next poll: September 16

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	*Head Coach (Yr)**	2014 FINAL
1	North Central (Ill.) (8)	280	Midwest	CCIW	Al Carius (50th)	1
2	St. Olaf	270	Central	MIAC	Phil Lundin (8th)	2
3	UW-Eau Claire	262	Midwest	WIAC	Dan Schwamberger (9th)	7
4	Amherst	251	New England	NESCAC	Ned Nedeau (19th)	9
5	Washington (Mo.)	245	Midwest	UAA	Jeff Stiles (15th)	4
6	St. Lawrence	244	Atlantic	Liberty League	John Newman (15th)	10
7	MIT	232	New England	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (34th)	8
8	UW-La Crosse	231	Midwest	WIAC	Derek Stanley (4th)	3
9	Williams	217	New England	NESCAC	Pete Farwell (37th)	6
10	Tufts	194	New England	NESCAC	Michael Schmidt (1st)	22
11	Wabash	193	Great Lakes	NCAC	Roger Busch (10th)	16
12	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	188	West	SCIAC	John Goldhammer (32nd)	15
12	Carnegie Mellon	188	Mideast	UAA	Tim Connelly (1st)	24
14	Carleton	172	Central	MIAC	Dave Ricks (9th)	18
15	Pomona-Pitzer	169	West	SCIAC	Tony Boston (8th)	17
16	Middlebury	159	New England	NESCAC	Nicole Wilkerson (5th)	13
16	Calvin	159	Great Lakes	Michigan Intercollegiate	Brian Diemer (30th)	21
18	SUNY Geneseo	151	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Dan Moore (1st)	27
19	Widener	137	Mideast	Middle Atlantic	Vince Touey (29th)	20
20	Johns Hopkins	123	Mideast	Centennial	Bobby Van Allen (17th)	26
21	Colby	117	New England	NESCAC	Jared Beers (10th)	5
22	UW-Oshkosh	113	Midwest	WIAC	Eamon McKenna (4th)	NR
23	Haverford	108	Mideast	Centennial	Tom Donnelly (41st)	14
24	Central (Iowa)	96	Central	IIAC	Joe Dunham (8th)	11
25	Dickinson	81	Mideast	Centennial	Don Nichter (26th)	12
26	Rose-Hulman	79	Great Lakes	HCAC	Geoff Wayton (3rd)	30
27	UW-Platteville	71	Midwest	WIAC	Tom Antczak (23rd)	NR
28	Loras	63	Central	IIAC	Bob Schultz (11th)	25
29	RPI	58	Atlantic	Liberty League	John Lynch (5th)	NR
30	Emory	45	South/Southeast	UAA	John Curtin (31st)	29
31	John Carroll	34	Great Lakes	OAC	Kyle Basista (2nd)	NR
32	Chicago	25	Midwest	UAA	Chris Hall (15th)	NR
33	Messiah	22	Mideast	Middle Atlantic	Dale Fogelsanger (22nd)	NR
34	Luther	16	Central	IIAC	Steve Pasche (11th)	NR
35	SUNY Oneonta	14	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Angelo Posillico (6th)	NR
Also Receiving Votes: Brandeis 10, Willamette 7, UW-Stevens Point 6, Bridgewater (Va.) 4, Hope 3, Bates 2, SUNY Cortland 1

(* year as head coach of that team in men’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)