Upsets Shake Up Penultimate NCAA DIII Men’s XC Poll

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

November 2, 2016

NEW ORLEANS — There is no hiding in the postseason.

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

Teams don’t have enough leeway to rest top runners.
With Conference Championship Weekend in the books in NCAA Division III and NCAAs just 17 days away, it’s shaping up to be quite the race for the team title.
It’s been clear throughout the regular season that North Central (Ill.) and SUNY Geneseo are the favorites to win the national title. After Conference Championship Weekend, however, the Cardinals are held in even higher regard according to the most recent National Coaches’ Poll that was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
North Central (Ill.) took two more of the Knights’ first-place votes, leaving the second-ranked foe with one to its seven. The Cardinals appear to be rounding into form at the right time of the season.
NATIONAL PDFs: Summary | Week-By-Week 2016 | Week-By-Week All-Time
Regional Rankings: Week 7 Summary | Week 7 Recap
CHECK OUT THE WOMEN’S NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL
This past weekend, North Central (Ill.) swept the CCIW Championships. Zach Plank led the way as the Cardinals sent the first six runners across the line to beat Augustana (Ill.) — a team that was previously ranked No. 26 in the poll — 15-61.
SUNY Geneseo dominated its conference meet, but not as soundly as North Central (Ill.). The Knights beat previously-ranked No. 27 SUNY Oneonta 23-62 as Isaac Garcia-Cassani won for the sixth time this season and two of his teammates followed right behind.
Looking elsewhere in the poll, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Johns Hopkins, Tufts and Brandeis all made impressive jumps from Week 6 to Week 7.
The Stags captured the SCIAC crown and knocked off previous-No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer in the process. CMS went from No. 16 to No. 8, which is one spot shy of its best ranking in program history that it set in Week 3.
The Blue Jays had something cooking at the Centennial League Championships and nearly upset Haverford. Johns Hopkins put four runners in the top-10 (3-4-8-9) and was only undone by its fifth runner (19th). The Blue Jays are now ranked 19th.
The Jumbos rode Tim Nichols and Luke O’Connor to a fourth-place finish at the NESCAC Championships. Nichols and O’Connor went 1-2 and Tufts, now ranked No. 21, lost a tiebreaker to previous-No. 21 Middlebury and beat previous-No. 14 Colby.
The Judges are ranked for the first time in five years after taking third at the UAA Championships. Brandeis put two runners in the top-5 (Ryan Stender and Mitchell Hutton) on its way to a grand total of 96 points (15 fewer than previous-No. 18 NYU).
Brandeis and Tufts were two of the three teams that weren’t ranked in Week 6 that gained entry to the Week 7 poll. UW-Platteville, led by 2015 individual champ Ian LaMere, is the other and sits 35th.
We’ll find out if LaMere can make it two in a row and whether or not the battle for the title between North Central (Ill.) and SUNY Geneseo lives up to the hype when they all converge on E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky on November 19.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III
Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2016 Week #7 — November 2
Next poll: November 14

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region (CR)	*Head Coach (Yr)**	Last Week
1	North Central (Ill.) (7)	279	Midwest (1)	Al Carius (51st)	1
2	SUNY Geneseo (1)	273	Atlantic (1)	Dan Moore (2nd)	2
3	Williams	264	New England (1)	Pete Farwell (38th)	3
4	UW-Eau Claire	256	Midwest (2)	Dan Schwamberger (10th)	4
5	MIT	244	New England (2)	Halston Taylor (35th)	5
5	UW-La Crosse	244	Midwest (3)	Derek Stanley (5th)	7
7	Amherst	228	New England (3)	Ned Nedeau (20th)	8
8	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	226	West (1)	John Goldhammer (33rd)	16
9	RPI	211	Atlantic (2)	John Lynch (6th)	11
10	Pomona-Pitzer	206	West (2)	Tony Boston (9th)	6
11	Washington (Mo.)	197	Midwest (4)	Jeff Stiles (16th)	13
12	Carnegie Mellon	189	Mideast (1)	Tim Connelly (2nd)	10
13	Calvin	186	Great Lakes (1)	Brian Diemer (31st)	12
14	St. Olaf	182	Central (1)	Phil Lundin (9th)	16
15	Haverford	166	Mideast (2)	Tom Donnelly (42nd)	15
16	Loras	161	Central (1)	Bob Schultz (12th)	9
17	Middlebury	142	New England (4)	Nicole Wilkerson (6th)	21
18	Ohio Northern	135	Great Lakes (2)	Jason Maus (11th)	19
19	Johns Hopkins	123	Mideast (3)	Bobby Van Allen (18th)	30
20	NYU	120	Atlantic (3)	Erison Hurtault (1st)	18
21	Tufts	119	New England (5)	Joel Williams (1st)	NR
22	St. Lawrence	95	Atlantic (4)	John Newman (16th)	20
23	Colby	91	New England (6)	Jared Beers (11th)	14
24	Whittier	90	West (3)	Greg Phillips (31st)	32
25	Augustana (Ill.)	88	Midwest (5)	Paul Olsen (51st)	26
26	Brandeis	83	New England (7)	Sinead Evans (3rd)	NR
26	Emory	83	South/Southeast (1)	John Curtin (32nd)	22
28	Christopher Newport	68	South/Southeast (2)	Matthew Barreau (6th)	25
29	Nebraska Wesleyan	58	Central (3)	Ted Bulling (27th)	33
30	Allegheny (Pa.)	57	Great Lakes (3)	Ben Mourer (1st)	RV
31	SUNY Oneonta	42	Atlantic (5)	Brett Willmott (1st)	27
32	Wartburg	40	Central (4)	Ryan Chapman (1st)	28
33	Washington and Lee	27	South/Southeast (3)	Brandon Spalding (4th)	34
33	Mount Union	27	Great Lakes (4)	Kevin Lucas (6th)	23
35	UW-Platteville	16	Midwest (6)	Tom Antczak (24th)	NR
Also Receiving Votes: Willamette 9, TCNJ 7, Dickinson 4, Rhodes 2, Saint John’s (Minn.) 2
Dropped Out: No. 24 Rowan, No. 29 Wabash, No. 31 Connecticut College, No. 35 Occidental
(* year as head coach of that team in men’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)