Final Regular-Season NCAA DII National Coaches’ Polls Announced

By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA

October 14, 2015

NEW ORLEANS – The 2015 NCAA Division II cross country regular season is in the books with conference championships looming in just over a week’s time, and with its completion comes the final regular-season edition of the National Coaches’ Poll from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday.
But for some minor fluctuations, both genders’ top 10 teams remained largely constant from the week prior, with some more widespread jostling present in the lower two-thirds of the polls.
This may be the final regular season edition of the National Coaches’ Polls, but two more polls remain following conference championships and the regional championships.
National PDFs: Top 25 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All-Time
Regional Rankings PDFs: Regional Rankings Summary | Rankings Recap
Division II XC Polls/Rankings Central

NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll Top 5 – Men
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
GVSU	Chico State	Colorado Mines	Adams State	Alaska Anchorage
View Complete Men’s National Coaches’ Poll

NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll Top 5 – Women
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Hillsdale	Adams State	GVSU	Minnesota Duluth	Chico State
View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

Of the two genders, the women’s top-10 was ever so slightly more active. No. 1 Hillsdale remained atop the standings ahead of No. 2 Adams State, three-time defending national champion No. 3 Grand Valley State and No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, but the Chargers lost one of their first-place votes to No. 4 UMD.
That leaves Hillsdale with three, Adams State with four and Minnesota Duluth with one. Hillsdale won the non-DI section of the Michigan Intercollegiate Championships in a controlled effort, while Adams State claimed a win at Fort Hays State, GVSU won the Lewis Conference Crossover, and UMD won the St. Cloud State Bob Waxlax Invite.
Chico State rounded out the top five.
The lone new additions to either gender’s top-10 were the No. 10 Cal Baptist women, who jumped up two spots with a runner-up showing to Chico State at SF State. This is the program’s first-ever top-10 appearance in the NCAA DII National Coaches’ Poll.
The order and distribution of first-place votes in the men’s top five remained constant from a week ago. No. 1 Grand Valley State retained five first-place nods with a win at Lewis, No. 2 Chico State earned two after a strong showing at SF State, and No. 3 Colorado Mines kept its first place vote after an off weekend.
Three-time defending champ Adams State came in at No. 4, while Alaska Anchorage completed the top five.
Twelve of the next 15 teams in the men’s poll moved around from a week ago, including three-spot improvements from No. 17 Black Hills State, No. 18 Cal Baptist and No. 20 Stonehill.
No. 23 New Mexico Highlands went the opposite direction with a 12-spot tumble from last time after a disappointing showing at the Fort Hays State Tiger Open, despite the win from National Athlete of the Week Collins Kirui.
Upward movement was more muted in the women’s poll, as Cal Baptist’s two-spot improvement was the gender’s biggest jump of any team previously ranked in the top 25.
Two newcomers joined the women’s top-25, however, in No. 22 Shippensburg and No. 24 Cal Poly Pomona.
The lone new addition to the men’s poll was No. 24 American International.
The NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships will be held November 21 in Joplin, Missouri.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division II
Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2015 Week #5 — October 14
next release: October 28

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	*Head Coach (Yr)**	Last Week
1	Grand Valley State (5)	197	Midwest	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (17th)	1
2	Chico State (2)	192	West	CCAA	Gary Towne (20th)	2
3	Colorado Mines (1)	187	South Central	RMAC	Chris Siemers (4th)	3
4	Adams State	176	South Central	RMAC	Damon Martin (21st)	4
5	Alaska Anchorage	161	West	GNAC	Michael Friess (26th)	5
6	Southern Indiana	160	Midwest	GLVC	Mike Hillyard (18th)	6
7	Augustana (S.D.)	153	Central	NSIC	Tracy Hellman (15th)	7
8	Cal Poly Pomona	140	West	CCAA	Octavious Gillespie-Bennett (4th)	8
9	Lock Haven	136	Atlantic	PSAC	Aaron Russell (18th)	9
10	Western State	135	South Central	RMAC	Jennifer Michel (9th)	10
11	Shippensburg	105	Atlantic	PSAC	Steve Spence (18th)	13
12	Simon Fraser	103	West	GNAC	Brit Townsend (16th)	12
13	West Texas A&M	94	South Central	Lone Star	Darren Flowers (7th)	15
14	Mount Olive	88	Southeast	Conf. Carolinas	Matt Van Lierop (7th)	16
15	UW-Parkside	80	Midwest	GLVC	Micah VanDenend (6th)	14
16	Pittsburg State	78	Central	MIAA	Russ Jewett (27th)	17
17	Black Hills State	77	South Central	RMAC	Scott Walkinshaw (18th)	20
18	Cal Baptist	60	West	PacWest	Ben Gall (4th)	21
19	Neb.-Kearney	53	Central	MIAA	Brady Bonsall (9th)	19
20	Stonehill	51	East	Northeast-10	Karen Boen (18th)	23
21	Western Washington	42	West	GNAC	Pee Wee Halsell (29th)	18
22	Saginaw Valley State	34	Midwest	GLIAC	Rod Cowan (6th)	22
23	New Mexico Highlands	33	South Central	RMAC	Bob DeVries (24th)	11
24	American International	13	East	Northeast-10	Leo Mayo (10th)	NR
25	SF State	11	West	CCAA	Tom Lyons (11th)	24
Also Receiving Votes: Indiana (Pa.) 8, Queens (N.C.) 7, Northwest Missouri 5, Lee (Tenn.) 5, Malone 5, UC San Diego 4, East Central (Okla.) 2, Saint Leo 2, Walsh 2, Tarleton State 1
Dropped Out: No. 25 UC San Diego, No. 25 East Central (Okla.)
(* year as head coach of that team in men’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)

USTFCCCA NCAA Division II
Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2015 Week #5 — October 14
next release: October 28

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	*Head Coach (Yr)**	Last Week
1	Hillsdale (3)	195	Midwest	GLIAC	Andrew Towne (5th)	1
2	Adams State (4)	191	South Central	RMAC	Damon Martin (28th)	2
3	Grand Valley State	186	Midwest	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (17th)	3
4	Minnesota Duluth (1)	177	Central	NSIC	Joanna Warmington (5th)	4
5	Chico State	171	West	CCAA	Gary Towne (20th)	5
6	Western State	158	South Central	RMAC	Jennifer Michel (9th)	6
7	Alaska Anchorage	149	West	GNAC	Michael Friess (26th)	7
8	Augustana (S.D.)	144	Central	NSIC	Tracy Hellman (15th)	8
9	Northern Michigan	140	Midwest	GLIAC	Jenny Ryan (9th)	9
10	Cal Baptist	123	West	PacWest	Ben Gall (4th)	12
11	Southern Indiana	120	Midwest	GLVC	Mike Hillyard (19th)	11
12	Western Washington	113	West	GNAC	Pee Wee Halsell (29th)	10
13	Bloomsburg	94	Atlantic	PSAC	Bernie Empie (7th)	13
13	Bellarmine	94	Midwest	GLVC	Kris Horton (11th)	13
15	Lewis	83	Midwest	GLVC	James Kearney (2nd)	15
16	Stonehill	74	East	Northeast-10	Karen Boen (18th)	16
17	Colorado Mines	72	South Central	RMAC	Chris Siemers (4th)	18
18	Seattle Pacific	70	West	GNAC	Karl Lerum (3rd)	17
19	Montevallo	53	Southeast	Peach Belt	Julia Marquardt (3rd)	20
20	Dallas Baptist	50	South Central	Heartland Conference	Jacob Phillips (11th)	21
21	U-Mary	36	Central	NSIC	Dennis Newell (10th)	22
22	Shippensburg	28	Atlantic	PSAC	Steve Spence (18th)	NR
23	Ashland	21	Midwest	GLIAC	Tom Scott (1st)	24
24	Cal Poly Pomona	13	West	CCAA	Octavious Gillespie-Bennett (4th)	RV
25	UC-Colorado Springs	10	South Central	RMAC	Corey Kubatzky (1st)	22
25	Edinboro	10	Atlantic	PSAC	Rick Hammer (3rd)	19
Also Receiving Votes: UC San Diego 7, CSU-Pueblo 6, Malone 5, UW-Parkside 3, Cal State San Bernardino 2, Winona State 1, Harding 1
Dropped Out: No. 24 UC San Diego
(* year as head coach of that team in women’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)