Three New No. 1 Teams In Week 4 NCAA D1 Women’s XC Regional Rankings

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

October 3, 2016

NEW ORLEANS — The stars are starting to come out in NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country and because of that, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Regional Rankings are changing.
After this past weekend’s action in Colorado, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Washington, among other states, we saw a major shift in the rankings released Monday.
Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Rankings Central | Men’s Rankings
There are three new No. 1 teams in the Regional Rankings and three moved up to the all-important No. 2 spot, which would gaurantee a NCAA Championship berth if those teams finish there at the Regional Championship.
How will these affect the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll? You’ll want to tune in Tuesday at noon ET as we reveal them LIVE on "Cross Country U," the new podcast presented by the USTFCCCA.
We’ll start in the West Region, where Washington jumped from No. 5 to No. 1 after romping to the team title at its own invitational. The Huskies put six runners in the top-9 — led by individual champion Charlotte Prouse — and scored 24 points to beat Oregon (57) and Harvard (78). In surging four spots, Washington vaulted over the previously top-ranked Ducks, previous No. 2 Stanford, previous No. 3 Portland and previous No. 4 Boise State. This is the first time since Week 3 of 2012 that the Huskies have been ranked No. 1 in the West Region.
Oregon, however, fell four spots after finishing second in Seattle. The Ducks saw a great debut from freshman Katie Rainsberger (2nd place overall), but she was the only mallard in the top-10.
With Oregon falling so many spots, it pushed the Pilots up to No. 2 from No. 3. Portland was idle, yet the team is still flying high after its runaway victory at the Roy Griak Invitational two weeks ago.
In the South Region, Mississippi used a seventh-place team finish at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational to jump two spots to No. 1. The Rebels were led by Mary Alex England (32nd) and Shelby Brown (33rd), yet also had Emily Bean (35th) and Bo Ummels (36th) close by. Ole Miss took over the No. 1 spot formerly held by Vanderbilt, which fell all the way to No. 5 this week after finishing 18th at Notre Dame. This is the first time the Rebels have been the top-ranked team in the South Region in program history.
Finally, we shift our focus to the Mountain Region where Colorado overtook New Mexico. This past weekend, the Buffaloes debuted their top runners at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and impressed. Colorado went 1-2-3-4-5, led by Erin Clark who became just the third woman to run under 20 minutes on that 6K course (19:54). The Lady Lobos showcased a strong top-2 at Notre Dame, but little else. Alice Wright and Calli Thackery both finished in the top-5, yet New Mexico couldn’t put any runners close by and Joe Franklin’s team took fourth in the team standings.
Outside of those three new No. 1s, those new No. 2s are Minnesota (Midwest Region), Portland (West Region) and Yale (Northeast Region). The aforementioned Pilots aren’t the only team with a big victory to its credit. This past weekend at the Paul Short Run, the Bulldogs shocked both Georgetown and Penn on its way to a 92-119-127 win. The Gophers put strong back-to-back performances together at the Griak Invitational and Notre Dame to move up.
Be sure to look below for the full Regional Rankings.
The NCAA Division I Regional Championships will be held around the country on Friday, November 11 with the return of the NCAA Championships to Terre Haute, Indiana, eight days later.
USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning teams strength with current season results (if applicable) in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Women’s Cross Country Regional Team Rankings
2016 Week #4 — October 3
national poll release: October 4
next regional release: October 17
Win-loss record reflective of results in varsity competition of races 7500 meters or longer versus DI opponents starting September 9; RAOR = Record against own region
GREAT LAKES Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Michigan State	37-1 (7-0)	Big Ten	1
2	Michigan	32-4 (3-1)	Big Ten	2
3	Eastern Michigan	43-2 (4-0)	Mid-American	4
4	Indiana	8-0 (5-0)	Big Ten	8
5	Notre Dame	47-8 (12-1)	ACC	3
6	Ohio State	53-12 (8-5)	Big Ten	5
7	Butler	20-3 (0-2)	Big East	7
8	Wisconsin	4-1 (-)	Big Ten	6
9	Purdue	15-12 (4-3)	Big Ten	11
10	Toledo	2-0 (2-0)	Mid-American	10
11	Marquette	12-1 (6-1)	Big East	9
12	Miami (Ohio)	15-1 (15-1)	Mid-American	15
13	Dayton	18-7 (12-7)	Atlantic 10	13
14	Central Michigan	9-29 (0-7)	Mid-American	12
15	Oakland	20-3 (6-1)	Horizon	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Michigan, 2014: Michigan State, 2013: Michigan, 2012: Michigan, 2011: Michigan

MID-ATLANTIC Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Penn State	38-2 (7-0)	Big Ten	1
2	Georgetown	40-2 (17-1)	Big East	2
3	Penn	35-3 (14-2)	Ivy	3
4	West Virginia	36-7 (15-3)	Big 12	6
5	Villanova	32-6 (12-4)	Big East	4
6	Princeton	17-6 (9-1)	Ivy	5
7	Bucknell	18-7 (8-1)	Patriot	8
8	Pittsburgh	20-15 (3-1)	ACC	7
9	Maryland	26-14 (14-4)	Big Ten	10
10	Lehigh	29-18 (13-5)	Patriot	NR
11	Duquesne	19-7 (1-1)	Atlantic 10	12
12	Navy	14-37 (7-7)	Patriot	11
13	George Washington	17-23 (9-9)	Atlantic 10	NR
14	Towson	24-22 (9-7)	Colonial	NR
15	UMBC	15-25 (8-10)	America East	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Penn State, 2014: Georgetown, 2013: Villanova, 2012: Penn State, 2011: Georgetown/Villanova,

MIDWEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Oklahoma State	4-1 (2-1)	Big 12	1
2	Minnesota	42-17 (13-0)	Big Ten	3
3	Iowa State	20-14 (9-1)	Big 12	4
4	Tulsa	5-0 (3-0)	American	5
5	Kansas	1-2 (1-0)	Big 12	2
6	Missouri	34-5 (6-0)	SEC	6
7	Illinois	23-25 (17-7)	Big Ten	12
8	Oklahoma	17-21 (7-3)	Big 12	9
9	South Dakota	7-1 (7-1)	Summit League	10
10	Northwestern	17-28 (8-11)	Big Ten	11
11	Iowa	21-27 (15-9)	Big Ten	13
12	Northern Illinois	28-20 (19-5)	Mid-American	7
13	Bradley	29-0 (10-0)	Missouri Valley	14
14	Wichita State	13-3 (3-1)	Missouri Valley	8
15	Northern Iowa	20-5 (6-1)	Missouri Valley	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Oklahoma State, 2014: Iowa State, 2013: Iowa State, 2012: Iowa State, 2011: Iowa State

MOUNTAIN Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Colorado	— (—)	Pac-12	2
2	New Mexico	19-3 (3-0)	Mountain West	1
3	BYU	12-0 (-)	West Coast	3
4	Utah	25-6 (9-2)	Pac-12	4
5	Air Force	12-10 (1-2)	Mountain West	9
6	Weber State	13-17 (6-4)	Big Sky	5
7	Colorado State	26-15 (4-0)	Mountain West	6
8	Utah State	5-3 (4-3)	Mountain West	8
9	Wyoming	24-18 (8-3)	Mountain West	7
10	Northern Arizona	16-18 (2-2)	Big Sky	10
11	Montana State	4-4 (3-4)	Big Sky	11
12	Montana	3-5 (2-5)	Big Sky	NR
13	Southern Utah	27-22 (1-3)	Big Sky	12
14	UTEP	22-2 (2-0)	Conference USA	15
15	Nevada	— (—)	Mountain West	13
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: New Mexico, 2014: Colorado, 2013: Colorado, 2012: Weber State, 2011: New Mexico/Colorado

NORTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Providence	33-0 (12-0)	Big East	1
2	Yale	46-0 (20-0)	Ivy	3
3	Syracuse	15-4 (2-0)	ACC	2
4	Harvard	6-3 (0-1)	Ivy	4
5	Cornell	33-9 (14-2)	Ivy	5
6	Dartmouth	39-8 (23-3)	Ivy	7
7	Brown	39-10 (23-5)	Ivy	8
8	Boston College	23-15 (13-4)	ACC	9
9	UMass Lowell	— (—)	America East	10
10	Iona	31-14 (15-7)	Metro Atlantic	NR
11	New Hampshire	8-4 (8-4)	America East	11
12	Columbia	29-18 (14-10)	Ivy	6
13	Buffalo	25-13 (9-6)	Mid-American	14
14	Stony Brook	22-16 (9-8)	America East	12
15	Holy Cross	21-25 (8-9)	Patriot	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Providence, 2014: Iona, 2013: Providence, 2012: Providence, 2011: Syracuse

SOUTH Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Mississippi	19-6 (5-0)	SEC	3
2	Mississippi State	45-12 (10-1)	SEC	2
3	Florida	44-4 (13-0)	SEC	5
4	Florida State	23-23 (6-9)	ACC	6
5	Alabama	8-14 (1-2)	SEC	4
6	Vanderbilt	26-19 (10-3)	SEC	1
7	Lipscomb	27-10 (8-2)	Atlantic Sun	7
8	Auburn	16-11 (6-4)	SEC	9
9	Memphis	5-0 (3-0)	American	11
10	Georgia	41-18 (7-4)	SEC	8
11	Middle Tennessee	12-11 (5-5)	Conference USA	10
12	Georgia Tech	18-22 (6-1)	ACC	13
13	Jacksonville	11-1 (11-1)	Atlantic Sun	14
14	Southern Miss	7-2 (2-1)	Conference USA	15
15	UT Martin	5-18 (2-8)	Ohio Valley	NR
REGION HISTORY HERE

SOUTH CENTRAL Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Arkansas	28-0 (8-0)	SEC	1
2	SMU	11-1 (-)	American	2
3	Baylor	32-8 (14-3)	Big 12	5
4	Rice	16-1 (12-0)	Conference USA	4
5	Texas	7-15 (1-1)	Big 12	3
6	Texas A&M	11-25 (10-4)	SEC	6
7	Stephen F. Austin	2-3 (1-0)	Southland	7
8	Tulane	9-6 (5-0)	American	8
9	TCU	26-8 (18-5)	Big 12	10
10	UTRGV	9-9 (6-4)	WAC	NR
11	North Texas	12-8 (8-3)	Conference USA	9
12	LSU	12-8 (11-5)	SEC	11
13	Lamar	7-7 (7-5)	Southland	12
14	Houston	6-8 (6-6)	American	13
15	UT Arlington	1-26 (0-3)	Sun Belt	14
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Arkansas, 2014: Arkansas, 2013: Arkansas, 2012: Arkansas, 2011: Arkansas

SOUTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	NC State	33-1 (13-0)	ACC	1
2	Virginia	15-9 (11-5)	ACC	2
3	William and Mary	11-4 (6-1)	Colonial	3
4	Kentucky	11-3 (-)	SEC	5
5	Eastern Kentucky	16-7 (4-1)	Ohio Valley	12
6	Virginia Tech	7-0 (4-0)	ACC	4
7	Coastal Carolina	10-5 (6-2)	Sun Belt	7
8	Furman	27-11 (4-0)	Southern	8
9	James Madison	29-11 (6-0)	Colonial	10
10	Elon	2-0 (2-0)	Colonial	9
11	Louisville	17-6 (5-0)	ACC	11
12	North Carolina	14-20 (11-2)	ACC	6
13	Clemson	8-30 (3-7)	ACC	13
14	Duke	22-14 (0-1)	ACC	14
15	Charlotte	6-9 (2-5)	Conference USA	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Virginia, 2014: William and Mary, 2013: Virginia, 2012: Duke, 2011: Virginia,

WEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Washington	12-0 (10-0)	Pac-12	5
2	Portland	36-4 (6-3)	West Coast	3
3	Stanford	6-0 (5-0)	Pac-12	2
4	Boise State	31-3 (4-1)	Mountain West	4
5	Oregon	10-1 (7-1)	Pac-12	1
6	San Francisco	29-5 (3-2)	West Coast	6
7	UCLA	28-6 (2-3)	Pac-12	7
8	Cal Poly	14-2 (12-1)	Big West	9
9	California	20-17 (7-7)	Pac-12	8
10	Arizona	24-10 (1-4)	Pac-12	10
11	Arizona State	15-0 (13-0)	Pac-12	11
12	Idaho	4-4 (4-2)	Big Sky	14
13	UC Santa Barbara	12-4 (10-3)	Big West	15
14	Washington State	6-6 (6-4)	Pac-12	12
15	Loyola Marymount	13-4 (12-3)	West Coast	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Oregon, 2014: Oregon, 2013: Arizona, 2012: Oregon, 2011: Washington