There’s A New No. 1 Team In The NCAA DI Women’s XC Poll

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

September 27, 2016

NEW ORLEANS — Uncertainly could only rule the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll for so long.

NCAA Division I National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women
1)	t2)	t2)	4)	5)
Providence	New Mexico	Colorado	Oregon	NC State
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

With questions surrounding previously top-ranked New Mexico’s roster and having not seen Joe Franklin’s squad race a full lineup this season, the voting coaches removed the Lady Lobos from the No. 1 spot in the most recent poll released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Providence, instead, is the top dog with less than two months until the 2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. This marks the first time since Week 7 in 2013 that the Friars are ranked No. 1 by the coaches. Providence won the NCAA title that same year, so Ray Treacy’s team is hoping history repeats itself.
This continued a steady rise for the Friars, as they were third in the Preseason and Week 1, and then climbed to No. 2 in Week 2. Now Providence owns four of 12 possible first-place votes and takes over the top spot from the reigning national champions.
National PDFs: Summary | Week-by-Week 2016 | Week-by-Week All Time
Regional Rankings: Week 3 Summary | Week 3 Recap
MEN’S WEEK THREE NATIONAL POLL
What happened to those other eight first-place votes? We’ll tell you.
Colorado and New Mexico are now tied for second and shared the rest. The Lady Lobos hold the lion’s share at five, while the Buffaloes nabbed three.
Back to the Friars for a second, as they already brandished their power this season. A few weeks ago at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, Providence dominated the field as it put all five of its runners inside the top-7 en route to a 54-point win over Dartmouth. The Friars will try to make another statement this upcoming weekend as they travel to the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
Another team that proved its mettle this season was Portland — and was rewarded in kind.
This past weekend at the 31st annual Roy Griak Invitational, the Pilots won the team title over eight teams that were ranked higher than them last week (30th). Thanks to the surprise victory, Portland vaulted from the bottom of the poll into the top-10. The Pilots are now 7th, the highest billing they’ve ever received in program history (30th had been the record).
And while SMU wasn’t able to pull a Portland and win the Panorama Farms Invitational, its runner-up effort was noticed. The previously-unranked Mustangs were within shouting distance of now 15th-ranked BYU and jumped into the top-25 at No. 21 between Virginia and Penn. That ties the program’s best spot in the poll since 2010, when it was 21st as well.
SMU is one of two new teams to the poll this week as it’s joined by No. 26 Tulsa and No. 29 UCLA.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2016 Week #3 — September 27
next poll: October 4

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Record^	Region (CR)	Conference	*Cross Country Coach (Yr)**	Last Week
1	Providence (4)	349	11-0 (—)	Northeast (1)	Big East	Ray Treacy (33rd)	2
2	Colorado (3)	345	— (—)	Mountain (2)	Pac-12	Mark Wetmore (22nd)	3
2	New Mexico (5)	345	— (—)	Mountain (1)	Mountain West	Joe Franklin (10th)	1
4	Oregon	324	8-0 (2-0)	West (1)	Pac-12	Robert Johnson (5th)	4
5	NC State	301	12-0 (1-0)	Southeast (1)	ACC	Laurie Henes (11th)	5
6	Stanford	280	— (—)	West (2)	Pac-12	Elizabeth DeBole (1st)	7
7	Portland	270	33-8 (8-2)	West (3)	West Coast	Ian Solof (15th)	30
8	Michigan State	269	36-1 (7-1)	Great Lakes (1)	Big Ten	Walt Drenth (13th)	9
9	Boise State	252	30-3 (5-3)	West (4)	Mountain West	Corey Ihmels (4th)	6
10	Arkansas	244	11-0 (—)	South Central (1)	SEC	Lance Harter (27th)	11
11	Penn State	238	37-2 (8-2)	Mid-Atlantic (1)	Big Ten	John Gondak (3rd)	13
12	Washington	231	5-0 (—)	West (5)	Pac-12	Greg Metcalf (15th)	12
13	Oklahoma State	223	4-1 (—)	Midwest (1)	Big 12	Dave Smith (8th)	8
14	Michigan	222	31-4 (4-4)	Great Lakes (2)	Big Ten	Mike McGuire (25th)	10
15	BYU	217	12-0 (2-0)	Mountain (3)	West Coast	Ed Eyestone (1st)	19
16	Notre Dame	166	10-0 (—)	Great Lakes (3)	ACC	Matt Sparks (3rd)	15
17	Syracuse	135	15-4 (1-3)	Northeast (2)	ACC	Chris Fox (12th)	16
18	San Francisco	128	28-5 (3-5)	West (6)	West Coast	Helen Lehman-Winters (14th)	20
19	Georgetown	120	5-1 (1-1)	Mid-Atlantic (2)	Big East	Julie Culley (1st)	18
20	Virginia	105	15-9 (0-3)	Southeast (2)	ACC	Todd Morgan (5th)	14
21	SMU	98	11-1 (2-1)	South Central (2)	American	Cathy Casey (12th)	NR
22	Penn	67	2-0 (—)	Mid-Atlantic (3)	Ivy	Steve Dolan (5th)	22
23	Iowa State	58	19-14 (0-8)	Midwest (4)	Big 12	Andrea Grove-McDonough (4th)	17
24	Vanderbilt	55	21-2 (1-0)	South (1)	SEC	Steve Keith (11th)	24
24	Mississippi State	55	44-12 (2-7)	South (2)	SEC	Houston Franks (8th)	29
26	Tulsa	54	5-0 (1-0)	Midwest (5)	American	Steve Gulley (15th)	RV
26	Kansas	54	— (—)	Midwest (2)	Big 12	Stanley Redwine (17th)	21
28	Utah	53	8-1 (1-0)	Mountain (4)	Pac-12	Kyle Kepler (12th)	26
29	Yale	47	10-0 (1-0)	Northeast (3)	Ivy	Amy Gosztyla (6th)	23
29	UCLA	47	27-6 (3-6)	West (7)	Pac-12	Mike Maynard (5th)	NR
Others Receiving Votes: Weber State 38, Minnesota 36, Harvard 33, Princeton 30, Eastern Michigan 18, Mississippi 18, Villanova 12, William and Mary 12, California 9, Texas 8, Cornell 5, Columbia 4, Dartmouth 2, Wisconsin 2, Rice 1
Dropped Out: No. 25 Minnesota, No. 27 Harvard, No. 28 Weber State
^ Win-loss record reflective of results in varsity competition of races 4500 meters or longer versus DI opponents starting September 9; records in () are results against ranked teams.
( year as effective coach of that team in women’s cross country), CR – Coaches’ Regional Ranking*