Three New No. 1 Teams Rise In DI Women’s Regional Rankings

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

October 19, 2015

How will today’s new Regional Rankings affect the Week Five National Coaches’ Polls?
Find out in a LIVE podcast unveiling of the polls Tuesday at noon ET on USTFCCCA.org.

NEW ORLEANS – After an exciting, hectic and intense weekend in Division I Women’s Cross Country, there are three new top-ranked teams in the Regional Team Rankings as released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Division I XC Rankings Central
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Mississippi State, Penn State and Virginia all jumped into the driver’s seat of their respective regions following a strong performance at either last Friday’s Wisconsin adidas Invitational or last Saturday’s Pre-National Invitational.
With eight top-30 teams in women’s championship race at Pre-Nats, it would have been easy to overlook the Bulldogs just because they weren’t among that octet. Well, Mississippi State put four of those ranked teams on notice, including No. 7 Georgetown. The Bulldogs finished fifth in the team standings – four points behind No. 9 Stanford – thanks to the talented duo of Marta Freitas (12th) and Rhianwedd Price (14th). Mississippi State jumped from No. 4 in the South Region to No. 1.
The Cavaliers had one of the best days out of anybody not named New Mexico or Arkansas at the adidas Invitational. Virginia packed three runners inside the top-30 and finished a comfortable third in the team standings. The Cavaliers went from No. 2 to No. 1 in the Southeast Region, supplanting previous No. 1 North Carolina State.
Like Virginia, the Nittany Lions were rewarded for their efforts this past weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. Penn State (formerly No. 2 in the Mid-Atlantic Region) swapped spots with the Hoyas (formerly No. 1) following a 10th-place finish. Penn State, led by Tori Gerlach (32nd), put three of its runners in the top-75.
Outside of those new No. 1s, six teams remained firmly atop its respective regions – Arkansas (South Central), Iowa State (Midwest), Michigan (Great Lakes), New Mexico (Mountain), Oregon (West) and Providence (Northeast).
Now don’t think for a second there wasn’t movement elsewhere in the top-15 of each region. In fact, 89 other teams – including 11 new additions to the rankings – had their standing affected by this past weekend’s action.
To break it down further, 10 teams moved four or more spots in either direction.

Great Lakes Region: Wisconsin fell from No. 2 to No. 6 following a disappointing effort at its home meet; Ohio went from No. 15 to No. 11.
Mid-Atlantic Region: Duquesne surged from No. 13 to No. 9.
Midwest Region: Kansas, led by Sharon Lokedi’s breakout performance at Pre-Nats (fourth overall) jumped from No. 10 to No. 4.
Mountain Region: Air Force went from No. 11 to No. 7.
Northeast Region: Yale climbed from No. 11 to No. 6; Cornell tumbled from No. 3 to No. 9.
South Region: Southern Miss went from No. 13 to No. 9; Georgia slid from No. 9 to No. 14.
South Central Region: Second-ranked Texas fell to No. 8.
West Region: Arizona State went from No. 6 to No. 10.

Here are those 11 new additions by region.

Great Lakes: No. 13 Western Michigan, No. 14 Miami (Ohio), No. 15 Oakland.
Midwest Region: No. 11 Illinois State.
Mountain Region: No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 14 Utah Valley.
Northeast Region: No. 15 Quinnipiac.
South Region: No. 10 North Florida.
South Central Region: No. 12 UTSA.
Southeast Region: No. 15 Richmond.
West Region: No. 12 Loyola-Marymount.

Many of these teams will take the weekend off in preparation for the upcoming conference championships happening in two weeks.
Following that, however, all of these teams will be in action at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Regional Championships held across the country on Nov. 13.
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
2015 Week #5 — October 19 (pre-conference)
national poll release: October 20
next regional release: November 2
RAOR = Record against own region (since September 25, reported to TFRRS)
GREAT LAKES Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Michigan	64-0 (6-0)	Big Ten	1
2	Notre Dame	42-13 (7-0)	ACC	4
3	Michigan State	45-14 (6-1)	Big Ten	3
4	Indiana	21-25 (3-2)	Big Ten	6
5	Purdue	71-16 (3-2)	Big Ten	5
6	Wisconsin	26-29 (4-4)	Big Ten	2
7	Ohio State	18-37 (2-6)	Big Ten	7
8	Eastern Michigan	40-38 (1-4)	Mid-American	8
9	Bowling Green	29-41 (1-3)	Mid-American	9
10	Central Michigan	40-17 (9-1)	Mid-American	11
11	Ohio	35-6 (15-1)	Mid-American	15
12	Xavier	44-15 (6-3)	Big East	13
13	Western Michigan	28-18 (6-8)	Mid-American	NR
14	Miami (Ohio)	32-9 (12-4)	Mid-American	NR
15	Oakland	36-2 (9-0)	Horizon	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: Michigan State, 2013: Michigan, 2012: Michigan, 2011: Michigan, 2010: Michigan State


MID-ATLANTIC Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Penn State	44-11 (4-0)	Big Ten	2
2	Georgetown	59-8 (1-0)	Big East	1
3	Princeton	34-12 (4-1)	Ivy	3
4	Villanova	43-12 (2-2)	Big East	4
5	Penn	41-13 (21-1)	Ivy	6
6	West Virginia	20-26 (1-2)	Big 12	5
7	Pittsburgh	32-14 (20-1)	ACC	7
8	Navy	21-6 (12-0)	Patriot	8
9	Duquesne	21-12 (19-5)	Atlantic 10	13
10	UMBC	30-16 (25-6)	America East	12
11	Bucknell	26-14 (16-5)	Patriot	9
12	George Washington	34-14 (27-6)	Atlantic 10	10
13	Rider	22-24 (19-12)	Metro Atlantic	15
14	Maryland	15-11 (10-2)	Big Ten	11
15	Rutgers	32-25 (21-13)	Big Ten	14
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: Georgetown, 2013: Villanova, 2012: Penn State, 2011: Georgetown/Villanova,2010: Villanova


MIDWEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Iowa State	55-24 (8-4)	Big 12	1
2	Oklahoma State	29-0 (3-0)	Big 12	3
3	Minnesota	60-19 (10-2)	Big Ten	2
4	Kansas	34-18 (9-0)	Big 12	10
5	Bradley	35-30 (9-1)	Missouri Valley	4
6	Tulsa	21-29 (5-2)	American	8
7	Oklahoma	27-31 (3-2)	Big 12	6
8	Missouri	32-47 (5-4)	SEC	5
9	Wichita State	21-38 (5-5)	Missouri Valley	9
10	Illinois	19-49 (7-6)	Big Ten	7
11	Illinois State	28-20 (18-5)	Missouri Valley	NR
12	Loyola-Chicago	33-14 (17-3)	Missouri Valley	11
13	Northwestern	27-50 (6-7)	Big Ten	13
14	Kansas State	25-7 (17-3)	Big 12	14
15	Iowa	23-24 (15-7)	Big Ten	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: Iowa State, 2013: Iowa State, 2012: Iowa State, 2011: Iowa State, 2010: Iowa State


MOUNTAIN Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	New Mexico	55-0 (6-0)	Mountain West	1
2	Colorado	45-1 (9-0)	Pac-12	2
3	BYU	35-11 (2-1)	West Coast	3
4	Utah	55-9 (9-2)	Pac-12	4
5	Weber State	58-10 (10-2)	Big Sky	5
6	Northern Arizona	18-22 (0-2)	Big Sky	7
7	Air Force	40-15 (4-4)	Mountain West	11
8	Colorado State	61-27 (9-7)	Mountain West	6
9	Utah State	34-34 (4-8)	Mountain West	10
10	Wyoming	26-44 (5-9)	Mountain West	8
11	Montana State	5-41 (1-7)	Big Sky	9
12	Montana	0-2 (0-1)	Big Sky	13
13	Texas Tech	22-9 (4-0)	Big 12	NR
14	Utah Valley	20-22 (6-5)	WAC	NR
15	Idaho State	5-17 (2-4)	Big Sky	12
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: Colorado, 2013: Colorado, 2012: Weber State, 2011: New Mexico/Colorado,2010: New Mexico


NORTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Providence	54-4 (24-0)	Big East	1
2	Syracuse	47-11 (22-2)	ACC	2
3	Columbia	37-20 (11-3)	Ivy	6
4	Dartmouth	32-26 (18-6)	Ivy	5
5	Harvard	27-31 (18-6)	Ivy	4
6	Yale	42-16 (5-0)	Ivy	11
7	Brown	42-25 (17-5)	Ivy	7
8	New Hampshire	38-29 (15-7)	America East	8
9	Cornell	49-21 (8-3)	Ivy	3
10	Boston College	20-38 (13-11)	ACC	9
11	Connecticut	51-42 (17-12)	American	10
12	Albany	41-16 (23-10)	America East	12
13	Stony Brook	13-13 (12-9)	America East	13
14	Buffalo	53-6 (5-3)	Mid-American	14
15	Quinnipiac	19-7 (3-4)	Metro Atlantic	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: Iona, 2013: Providence, 2012: Providence, 2011: Syracuse, 2010: Syracuse


SOUTH Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Mississippi State	53-5 (4-0)	SEC	4
2	Vanderbilt	35-20 (2-0)	SEC	1
3	Lipscomb	53-14 (14-4)	Atlantic Sun	3
4	Alabama	27-2 (13-0)	SEC	2
5	Auburn	41-4 (19-2)	SEC	7
6	Florida State	31-27 (1-2)	ACC	5
7	Florida	24-40 (2-2)	SEC	8
8	Mississippi	35-9 (13-3)	SEC	6
9	Southern Miss	25-14 (8-5)	Conference USA	13
10	North Florida	16-8 (7-6)	Atlantic Sun	NR
11	Belmont	20-24 (7-9)	Ohio Valley	11
12	Florida Gulf Coast	15-2 (8-0)	Atlantic Sun	15
13	Georgia Tech	3-44 (1-2)	ACC	10
14	Georgia	9-58 (0-5)	SEC	9
15	Tennessee	18-26 (6-0)	SEC	12
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: Vanderbilt, 2013: Florida State, 2012: Florida State, 2011: Florida State, 2010: Florida State


SOUTH CENTRAL Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Arkansas	49-1 (10-0)	SEC	1
2	Baylor	7-43 (3-7)	Big 12	4
3	SMU	12-43 (2-2)	American	3
4	Texas A&M	37-22 (20-3)	SEC	5
5	Lamar	12-38 (9-8)	Southland	8
6	Rice	29-40 (13-5)	Conference USA	7
7	Stephen F. Austin	19-40 (12-4)	Southland	6
8	Texas	26-39 (20-2)	Big 12	2
9	UT Arlington	28-17 (20-8)	Sun Belt	9
10	North Texas	9-12 (9-11)	Conference USA	10
11	Arkansas State	15-23 (4-0)	Sun Belt	11
12	UTSA	10-17 (7-4)	Conference USA	NR
13	McNeese State	18-27 (14-14)	Southland	13
14	TCU	13-41 (6-17)	Big 12	14
15	LSU	22-32 (15-14)	SEC	12
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: Arkansas, 2013: Arkansas, 2012: Arkansas, 2011: Arkansas, 2010: Texas


SOUTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Virginia	47-2 (11-0)	ACC	2
2	NC State	51-4 (3-1)	ACC	1
3	William and Mary	26-20 (4-3)	Colonial	4
4	Eastern Kentucky	42-36 (15-4)	Ohio Valley	5
5	North Carolina	27-19 (4-3)	ACC	3
6	Virginia Tech	25-30 (7-3)	ACC	6
7	Duke	23-32 (5-5)	ACC	9
8	Clemson	20-44 (2-5)	ACC	7
9	Coastal Carolina	30-35 (16-5)	Big South	12
10	James Madison	34-36 (4-5)	Colonial	8
11	Kentucky	6-43 (0-6)	SEC	10
12	Louisville	40-13 (13-1)	ACC	14
13	Furman	33-17 (15-4)	Southern	15
14	Wake Forest	22-17 (17-8)	ACC	13
15	Richmond	23-11 (16-2)	Atlantic 10	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: William and Mary, 2013: Virginia, 2012: Duke, 2011: Virginia, 2010: Virginia


WEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Oregon	53-2 (14-0)	Pac-12	1
2	Boise State	54-5 (7-0)	Mountain West	4
3	Washington	38-8 (10-2)	Pac-12	2
4	Stanford	60-5 (20-3)	Pac-12	3
5	California	62-15 (13-4)	Pac-12	5
6	Eastern Washington	37-18 (7-7)	Big Sky	8
7	Gonzaga	6-5 (6-3)	West Coast	7
8	Cal Poly	39-15 (9-5)	Big West	9
9	San Francisco	41-27 (1-8)	West Coast	12
10	Arizona State	26-29 (1-2)	Pac-12	6
11	Portland	4-7 (4-5)	West Coast	10
12	Loyola Marymount	25-0 (18-0)	West Coast	NR
13	Washington State	36-8 (6-6)	Pac-12	14
14	Arizona	45-12 (4-3)	Pac-12	11
15	UC Davis	40-12 (10-10)	Big West	13
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2014: Oregon, 2013: Arizona, 2012: Oregon, 2011: Washington, 2010: Washington