New Mexico No Longer Unanimous in Coaches’ Poll

Courtesyt By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

November 16, 2015

NEW ORLEANS – The dust has nearly settled on the 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country season. This coming Saturday will mark the final day of the season as 31 teams will vie for the national championship in Louisville, Kentucky.
National PDFs: Top 30 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All Time
Regional Results: Championship Central | Recap
MORE: NCAA DI Polls & Rankings Home | Men’s National Coaches’ Poll
According to the most recent National Coaches’ Poll, released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), New Mexico is still the clear-cut favorite to win the championship, but is no longer unanimous. The Lobos can thank No. 2 Colorado for that.

NCAA Division I National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
New Mexico	Colorado	Arkansas	Providence	Oregon
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

Last Friday, the Buffaloes beat New Mexico by one point for the Mountain Region title and took two first-place votes from Joe Franklin’s team a few days later. This marks the first time since the Week 3 poll that the Lobos shared first-place votes.
Elsewhere in the poll, dominant or surprising efforts at regional championships were rewarded – such was the case when it came to No. 4 Providence, No. 8 Boise State and No. 11 Oklahoma State.
The Friars, led by a second-place finish by Sarah Collins, ran away with the Northeast Region crown. Providence scored 49 points compared to runner-up Syracuse’s 92 and appears to be a solid contender to podium in five days.
And thanks to another win by standout freshman Allie Ostrander and a strong team effort behind her, the Broncos nearly authored another shocking upset – this time at the expense of No. 5 Oregon. Boise State romped to a team title at the Roy Griak Invitational earlier this season and would have added more hardware to its trophy case last Friday if the Ducks’ depth didn’t prevail.
The Cowgirls, ranked No. 30 in the preseason, continued their late-season surge. Fresh off a historic win at the Big 12 Championships, Oklahoma State made quick work of the field in Lawrence, Kansas for the Midwest Region crown. Three Cowgirls finished in the top-10 and Oklahoma State scored 51 points to runner-up Iowa State’s 98.
While the rest of the poll more or less remained the same other than an eight-spot jump by Vanderbilt, there were two new additions to the back end – Tulsa (tied for 27th) and San Francisco (No. 29). Both the Golden Hurricane and the Dons earned at-large berths to NCAAs following strong races at their respective regional meets. This is the first time since 2010 that Tulsa is ranked and San Francisco’s first appearance in the poll since 2013.
All but one team in the final poll of the season will contend for the NCAA title at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park this Saturday. No. 30 North Carolina was left out of the mix after it finished third in a cutthroat Southeast Region.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2015 Week #7 — November 16 (pre-championships)
next poll: none, NCAA Championships, November 21 (Louisville, Ky.)

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Overall (vs Ranked)	Region	Conference	*Cross Country Coach (Yr)**	Last Week
1	New Mexico (10)	358	82-1 (25-1)	Mountain	Mountain West	Joe Franklin (9th)	1
2	Colorado (2)	349	74-1 (16-1)	Mountain	Pac-12	Mark Wetmore (21st)	2
3	Arkansas	327	79-1 (19-1)	South Central	SEC	Lance Harter (26th)	3
4	Providence	318	107-12 (18-4)	Northeast	Big East	Ray Treacy (32nd)	4
5	Oregon	313	97-3 (19-3)	West	Pac-12	Robert Johnson (4th)	4
6	Michigan	287	109-1 (17-1)	Great Lakes	Big Ten	Mike McGuire (24th)	7
7	Virginia	286	93-2 (22-2)	Southeast	ACC	Todd Morgan (4th)	6
8	Boise State	281	95-7 (21-7)	West	Mountain West	Corey Ihmels (3rd)	9
9	Penn State	256	86-11 (15-11)	Mid-Atlantic	Big Ten	John Gondak (2nd)	10
9	NC State	256	95-6 (21-6)	Southeast	ACC	Laurie Henes (10th)	8
11	Oklahoma State	242	68-0 (4-0)	Midwest	Big 12	Dave Smith (7th)	13
12	Washington	221	78-13 (17-13)	West	Pac-12	Greg Metcalf (14th)	12
13	Stanford	219	100-10 (12-10)	West	Pac-12	Chris Miltenberg (4th)	11
14	Georgetown	209	94-10 (6-10)	Mid-Atlantic	Big East	Michael Smith (4th)	14
15	Notre Dame	185	83-16 (11-16)	Great Lakes	ACC	Matt Sparks (2nd)	15
16	Iowa State	179	91-26 (15-14)	Midwest	Big 12	Andrea Grove-McDonough (3rd)	16
17	Michigan State	158	85-19 (9-19)	Great Lakes	Big Ten	Walt Drenth (12th)	18
18	Syracuse	153	93-15 (9-15)	Northeast	ACC	Chris Fox (11th)	19
19	Vanderbilt	131	75-22 (4-20)	South	SEC	Steve Keith (10th)	27
20	Mississippi State	123	93-7 (6-7)	South	SEC	Houston Franks (7th)	17
21	Utah	121	78-15 (6-15)	Mountain	Pac-12	Kyle Kepler (11th)	20
22	Princeton	118	68-14 (8-14)	Mid-Atlantic	Ivy	Pete Farrell (38th)	23
23	Minnesota	106	97-24 (7-24)	Midwest	Big Ten	Sarah Hopkins (3rd)	21
24	BYU	102	58-15 (12-15)	Mountain	West Coast	Patrick Shane (34th)	24
25	Weber State	66	82-14 (4-14)	Mountain	Big Sky	Paul Pilkington (9th)	25
25	Villanova	66	76-17 (1-15)	Mid-Atlantic	Big East	Gina Procaccio (16th)	26
27	Tulsa	25	58-31 (0-21)	Midwest	American	Steve Gulley (14th)	NR
27	Gonzaga	25	45-10 (2-9)	West	West Coast	Patrick Tyson (9th)	30
29	San Francisco	22	77-33 (2-19)	West	West Coast	Helen Lehman-Winters (13th)	NR
30	North Carolina	17	67-25 (2-23)	Southeast	ACC	Mark VanAlstyne (4th)	28
Others Receiving Votes: Kansas 15, Texas 14, William and Mary 11, Wisconsin 7, Brown 6, West Virginia 5, Boston College 2, Yale 1
Dropped Out: No. 22 William and Mary, No. 29 Yale
Win-loss record reflective of results in varsity competition versus DI opponents starting September 25; records in () are results against ranked teams.
( year as effective coach of that team in women’s cross country)*