North Central (Ill.) Men Are Preseason Favorites In NCAA DIII XC

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

August 31, 2016

NEW ORLEANS — What do the years 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016 have in common as it pertains to the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country Preseason National Coaches’ Poll?

NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Men
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
North Central (Ill.)	SUNY Geneseo	Williams	UW-Eau Claire	Pomona-Pitzer
View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll

If you guessed North Central (Ill.) is ranked No. 1, you’re right.
For the sixth time in the past eight years, the Cardinals are atop the coaches’ poll to begin the season. North Central (Ill.) received five of the eight first-place votes available.
Third-ranked Williams nabbed two and second-ranked SUNY Geneseo snagged one.
NATIONAL PDFs: Summary | Week-By-Week 2016 | Week-By-Week All-Time
Regional Rankings: Preseason Summary | Preseason Recap
WOMEN’S PRESEASON NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL
Let’s go back to the Cardinals though and see why the coaches deemed them favorites for the 2016 season. North Central (Ill.) finished fifth at NCAAs last year and returns five of the seven runners that comprised that lineup, of which five placed inside the top-100 (Zach Plank, 4th; Al Baldonado, 65th; Dhruvil Patel, 77th; Zach Hird, 96th; Ethan Adlfinger, 99th). That’s not a bad sign for the Cardinals this year.
Coming in behind North Central (Ill.) are the Knights. Of note, the SUNY Geneseo men and women are both ranked No. 2 to begin the season.
The Knights finished third in Winneconne, Wisconsin and welcome back three members of its scoring lineup. SUNY Geneseo’s top returner is Isaac Garcia-Cassani — who was eighth last year — and he’ll be joined by Travis Briggs (61st) and Alfredo Mazzuca (83rd).
Top-end depth proved to be the Ephs undoing last year at NCAAs as they couldn’t hold off eventual champion UW-Eau Claire. Williams finished runner-up by nine points and is No. 3 entering the 2016 season. This year’s team for the Ephs features four runners from their NCAA team, namely Peter Hale (16th) and Noah Williams (40th).
Speaking of the defending champion Blugolds, they’re ranked fourth. UW-Eau Claire will be without the services of Josh Thorson and Ryan Mugan in 2016, but return Darin Lau (14th) and Nick Petersson (112th).
The No. 5 spot belongs to Pomona-Pitzer and this is a momentous ranking for that program. This is the first time in program history that the Sagehens have been ranked inside the top-10 in any USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll. Pomona-Pitzer must find a way to shore up its lineup as only two from its top-5 at NCAAs last year return.
Elsewhere in the top-10, St. Olaf is No. 6, followed by MIT at No. 7, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at No. 8, UW-La Crosse at No. 9 and Amherst at No. 10. This is the lowest the Oles have been ranked in the preseason since 2013, while the Stags set a new benchmark for the program.
The 2016 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships are set for November 19 in Louisville, Kentucky at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III
Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2016 Preseason — August 31
next poll: September 14

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region (CR)	Conference	*Head Coach (Yr)**	2015 FINAL
1	North Central (Ill.) (5)	275	Midwest (1)	CCIW	Al Carius (51st)	5
2	SUNY Geneseo (1)	270	Atlantic (1)	SUNYAC	Dan Moore (2nd)	3
3	Williams (2)	268	New England (1)	NESCAC	Pete Farwell (38th)	2
4	UW-Eau Claire	254	Midwest (2)	WIAC	Dan Schwamberger (10th)	1
5	Pomona-Pitzer	237	West (1)	SCIAC	Tony Boston (9th)	6
6	St. Olaf	236	Central (1)	MIAC	Phil Lundin (9th)	4
7	MIT	235	New England (2)	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (35th)	19
8	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	224	West (2)	SCIAC	John Goldhammer (33rd)	7
9	UW-La Crosse	220	Midwest (3)	WIAC	Derek Stanley (5th)	9
10	Amherst	204	New England (3)	NESCAC	Ned Nedeau (20th)	10
11	Carnegie Mellon	193	Mideast (1)	UAA	Tim Connelly (2nd)	18
12	Loras	190	Central (2)	IIAC	Bob Schultz (12th)	14
13	Wabash	186	Great Lakes (1)	NCAC	Colin Young (2nd)	8
14	St. Lawrence	176	Atlantic (2)	Liberty League	John Newman (16th)	15
15	UW-Platteville	175	Midwest (4)	WIAC	Tom Antczak (24th)	27
16	Haverford	164	Mideast (2)	Centennial	Tom Donnelly (42nd)	12
17	Tufts	154	New England (4)	NESCAC	Joel Williams (1st)	17
18	Chicago	139	Midwest (5)	UAA	Chris Hall (16th)	31
19	Allegheny (Pa.)	136	Great Lakes (2)	NCAC	Ben Mourer (1st)	26
20	Johns Hopkins	122	Mideast (3)	Centennial	Bobby Van Allen (18th)	NR
21	Middlebury	115	New England (5)	NESCAC	Nicole Wilkerson (6th)	24
21	Calvin	115	Great Lakes (3)	Michigan Intercollegiate	Brian Diemer (31st)	23
23	UW-Oshkosh	108	Midwest (6)	WIAC	Eamon McKenna (5th)	13
24	RPI	95	Atlantic (3)	Liberty League	John Lynch (6th)	NR
25	Central (Iowa)	66	Central (3)	IIAC	Joe Dunham (9th)	25
26	UW-Stevens Point	64	Midwest (7)	WIAC	Brett Witt	NR
27	Colby	60	New England (6)	NESCAC	Jared Beers (11th)	NR
28	Christopher Newport	56	South/Southeast (1)	CAC	Matthew Barreau (6th)	32
29	NYU	54	Atlantic (4)	UAA	Erison Hurtault (1st)	NR
30	Widener	53	Mideast (4)	Middle Atlantic	Vince Touey (30th)	NR
31	Willamette	42	West (3)	Northwest Conference	Matt McGuirk (13th)	28
32	Emory	36	South/Southeast (2)	UAA	John Curtin (32nd)	29
33	Ohio Northern	35	Great Lakes (4)	OAC	Jason Maus (11th)	NR
34	Washington (Mo.)	19	Midwest (8)	UAA	Jeff Stiles (16th)	16
35	Hamilton	11	Atlantic (5)	NESCAC	Brett Hull (26th)	21
35	Dickinson	11	Mideast (5)	Centennial	Don Nichter (27th)	NR
35	Bates	11	New England (7)	NESCAC	Al Fereshetian (22nd)	NR
Also Receiving Votes: Gustavus Adolphus 7, Augustana (Ill.) 6, Washington and Lee 5, Messiah 4, Occidental 3, Wartburg 3, DeSales 3.

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