THE CONNING TOWER by Keith Conning: Retooled Adams State Men Top Preseason NCAA DII Cross Country National Poll

By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA

September 2, 2015

NEW ORLEANS – Last season was the end of an era in Adams State cross country, with standouts Tabor Stevens, Kevin Batt and Matt Daniels closing out their XC careers in 2014 with a dominant NCAA Division II national team title – their third in a row.
Wednesday kicked off a new era in Alamosa, Colorado, as the new-look Grizzlies were voted the preseason No. 1 in the first edition of the National Coaches’ Poll announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
National Coaches’ Poll PDFs: Top 25 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All-Time
Regional Rankings PDFs: Regional Rankings Summary | Rankings Recap
Division II XC Polls/Rankings Central

NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll Top 5 – Men
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Adams State	GVSU	Augustana (S.D.)	Chico St.	Colorado Mines
View Complete Men’s National Coaches’ Poll

Adams State garnered six of the eight total first-place votes, narrowly edging two-time national runner-up Grand Valley State for top billing in the preseason poll. The Lakers received the final two first-place votes.
Rounding out the top five were No. 3 Augustana (S.D.), No. 4 Chico State, and No. 5 Colorado Mines.
If head coach Damon Martin is to lead ASU to a seventh national title in the past eight seasons, he’ll need to do it with a new cast of runners.
They may have lost two-time champ Stevens and perennial top-10 finishers Batt and Daniels, but the Grizzlies return NCAA mile/1500 meters champion Oliver Aitchison and last year’s 18th-place XC finisher Chad Palmer. Palmer was a freshman a year ago as the No. 4 scorer for the champion Grizzlies, as was 56th-place Jackson Sayler as the No. 5.
Meanwhile, GVSU loses only one runner in ninth-place Alan Peterson and return four All-Americans in Bryce Bradley (27th), Chad Cini (36th), Chris May (37th), and Brady Selner (39th). All six returners for the Lakers were among the top 80 finishers.
Those four All-American returners for Grand Valley are the most in the country, ahead of No. 3 Augustana and No. 7 Alaska Anchorage with three apiece.
Augustana brings back sixth-place Harald Karbo alongside Nathan Hauge (32nd) and Glen Ellingson (34th).
After a disappointing 14th-place finish in 2014, No. 4 Chico State is back with three of its five scorers in 2015. Kyle Medina led the way a year ago in 62nd place.
No. 5 Mines, like its RMAC rival ASU, loses significant firepower with the graduation of Phil Schneider and Derek Alcorn, but return All-American Nathanael Williams (31st) and near-All-American Dan Mahoney (42nd). Plus, expect Marty Andrie to bounce back from a 119th place effort after finishing fourth at 5000 meters outdoors and third at 3000 indoors on the track in 2015.
Completing the top 10 were No. 6 Southern Indiana, No. 7 Alaska Anchorage, No. 8 Western State, No. 9 Sioux Falls and No. 10 Cal Poly Pomona.
This marks the only top-10 polls appearance for Sioux Falls (USTFCCCA archives go back to 2000), which finished eighth at NCAAs a year ago. Cal Poly Pomona tied its program best at No. 10.
After just missing the NCAA Championships a year ago, No. 13 UW-Parkside is up to its highest ranking in program history. The Rangers are one of two teams who did not make the NCAA Championships a year ago but appeared in Wednesday’s top-25, joining No. 24 Nebraska-Kearney.
At the regional level, both the South Central and the West regions are represented by six teams apiece. That’s not a problem for the South Central and its six auto NCAA Championship bids, but the West is limited to only four qualifiers.
Five of those South Central teams came from the RMAC, the most of any conference in the country. The GLIAC, GNAC and PSAC were represented by three apiece.
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USTFCCCA NCAA Division II
Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2015 Preseason — September 2
next release: September 16

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	*Head Coach (Yr)**	2014 FINAL
1	Adams State (6)	198	South Central	RMAC	Damon Martin (21st)	1
2	Grand Valley State (2)	193	Midwest	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (17th)	2
3	Augustana (S.D.)	177	Central	NSIC	Tracy Hellman (15th)	3
4	Chico State	175	West	CCAA	Gary Towne (20th)	14
5	Colorado Mines	172	South Central	RMAC	Chris Siemers (4th)	4
6	Southern Indiana	158	Midwest	GLVC	Mike Hillyard (18th)	7
7	Alaska Anchorage	151	West	GNAC	Michael Friess (26th)	6
8	Western State	149	South Central	RMAC	Jennifer Michel (9th)	5
9	Sioux Falls	132	Central	NSIC	Grant Watley (4th)	8
10	Cal Poly Pomona	118	West	CCAA	Octavious Gillespie-Bennett (4th)	16
11	Lock Haven	116	Atlantic	PSAC	Aaron Russell (18th)	12
12	West Texas A&M	113	South Central	Lone Star	Darren Flowers (7th)	11
13	UW-Parkside	106	Midwest	GLVC	Micah VanDenend (6th)	NR
14	Cal Baptist	83	West	PacWest	Ben Gall (4th)	24
15	Ashland	78	Midwest	GLIAC	Trent Mack (6th)	10
16	Colorado Mesa	74	South Central	RMAC	Matt Canterbury (4th)	18
17	Shippensburg	68	Atlantic	PSAC	Steve Spence (18th)	25
18	Mount Olive	66	Southeast	Conf. Carolinas	Matt Van Lierop (7th)	19
19	Western Washington	40	West	GNAC	Pee Wee Halsell (29th)	13
19	Malone	40	Midwest	GLIAC	Jack Hazen (49th)	9
21	Stonehill	39	East	Northeast-10	Karen Boen (18th)	22
22	UC-Colorado Springs	35	South Central	RMAC	Mark Misch (9th)	23
23	Edinboro	33	Atlantic	PSAC	Rick Hammer (3rd)	15
24	Neb.-Kearney	29	Central	MIAA	Brady Bonsall (9th)	NR
25	Simon Fraser	23	West	GNAC	Brit Townsend (16th)	20
Also Receiving Votes: American International 13, Fort Hays State 11, Indiana (Pa.) 4, Lee (Tenn.) 3, Mars Hill 2, Roberts Wesleyan 1

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