Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Race For No. 1 In NCAA DIII Men’s XC Gets A Bit Tighter

Race For No. 1 In NCAA DIII Men’s XC Gets A Bit Tighter


By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA
September 14, 2016   



NEW ORLEANS — One thing is abundantly clear through two weeks of the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country season: North Central (Ill.) and SUNY Geneseo are the favorites to stand out come November in Louisville, Kentucky.
all

NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Men

1)North Central (Ill.)2)St. Olaf3)UW-La Crosse4)UW-Eau Claire5)MIT
North Central (Ill.)SUNY GeneseoWilliamsUW-Eau ClaireMIT
View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll
Anything else is up for debate.
According to the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Coaches’ Poll that was released Wednesday, the Cardinals and Knights were the only two teams to receive first-place votes. Last week there were three, as Williams had two, but the Ephs lost both to hand North Central (Ill.) a grand total of six, while SUNY Geneseo is the proud owner of two.
Just like the preseason, the top-4 consists of the Cardinals, Knights, Ephs and defending champion UW-Eau Claire, 24 points behind North Central (Ill.).
NATIONAL PDFs: Summary | Week-By-Week 2016 | Week-By-Week All-Time
Regional Rankings: Week 1 Summary | Week 1 Recap
WOMEN’S WEEK ONE NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL
The biggest move in the top-10 belonged to MIT as it went from No. 7 to No. 5. The Engineers, who tied their best ranking this early in the season, haven’t raced anyone other than their alumni this season and take to the course in two weeks at what should be a high-caliber invitational at Williams College.
Four teams leapt three or more spots in this week’s poll: Chicago (No. 18 to No. 15), Calvin (No. 21 to No. 17), Colby (No. 27 to No. 22) and Dickinson (No. 35 to No. 31).
The “Moves of the Week,” if you will, belonged to Augustana (Ill.) and Wartburg, as both teams went from “Also Receiving Votes” to the top-25. Both teams competed at the Les Duke Invitational this past weekend and fared quite well, hence their ascensions.
We’ll start with Wartburg, though, as it captured the meet crown. The Knights put three runners inside the top-10 — Jerry Frawley, Eli Kaczinski and Kailas Kokare — and won by a comfortable margin (53-78). This is the lowest Wartburg has been ranked this early in the National Coaches’ Poll since 2007 when it was 16th.
Augustana (Ill.) finished runner-up to the Knights and packed up well itself. The Vikings had finishers at 14th, 15th, 17th and 20th and were all separated by 16 seconds.
Most of these teams — or select athletes from these teams — will be in action at the 2016 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park come November 19.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III

Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll

2016 Week #1 — September 14

next poll: September 21
RankInstitution (FPV)PointsRegion (CR)ConferenceHead Coach (Yr*)
Last
Week
1North Central (Ill.) (6)278Midwest (1)CCIWAl Carius (51st)
1
2SUNY Geneseo (2)274Atlantic (1)SUNYACDan Moore (2nd)
2
3Williams264New England (1)NESCACPete Farwell (38th)
3
4UW-Eau Claire250Midwest (2)WIACDan Schwamberger (10th)
4
5MIT247New England (2)NEWMACHalston Taylor (35th)
7
6Pomona-Pitzer239West (1)SCIACTony Boston (9th)
5
7St. Olaf237Central (1)MIACPhil Lundin (9th)
6
8Claremont-Mudd-Scripps220West (2)SCIACJohn Goldhammer (33rd)
8
8UW-La Crosse220Midwest (3)WIACDerek Stanley (5th)
9
10Amherst209New England (3)NESCACNed Nedeau (20th)
10
11Loras194Central (2)IIACBob Schultz (12th)
12
12Carnegie Mellon190Mideast (1)UAATim Connelly (2nd)
11
12Wabash190Great Lakes (1)NCACColin Young (2nd)
13
14St. Lawrence172Atlantic (2)Liberty LeagueJohn Newman (16th)
14
15Chicago165Midwest (4)UAAChris Hall (16th)
18
16Haverford162Mideast (2)CentennialTom Donnelly (42nd)
16
17Calvin153Great Lakes (2)MIAABrian Diemer (31st)
21
18Tufts150New England (4)NESCACJoel Williams (1st)
17
19Johns Hopkins131Mideast (3)CentennialBobby Van Allen (18th)
20
20UW-Platteville126Midwest (5)WIACTom Antczak (24th)
15
21Allegheny (Pa.)115Great Lakes (3)NCACBen Mourer (1st)
19
22Colby113New England (5)NESCACJared Beers (11th)
27
23Wartburg107Central (3)IIACRyan Chapman (1st)
RV
24RPI97Atlantic (3)Liberty LeagueJohn Lynch (6th)
24
25Augustana (Ill.)94Midwest (6)CCIWPaul Olsen (51st)
RV
26Middlebury71New England (6)NESCACNicole Wilkerson (6th)
21
27UW-Oshkosh68Midwest (7)WIACEamon McKenna (5th)
23
28Widener63Mideast (4)Middle AtlanticVince Touey (30th)
30
29NYU52Atlantic (4)UAAErison Hurtault (1st)
29
30Christopher Newport50South/Southeast (1)CACMatthew Barreau (6th)
28
31Dickinson39Mideast (5)CentennialDon Nichter (27th)
35
32Ohio Northern34Great Lakes (4)OACJason Maus (11th)
33
33Emory25South/Southeast (2)UAAJohn Curtin (32nd)
32
33Central (Iowa)25Central (4)IIACJoe Dunham (9th)
25
35Willamette14West (3)NorthwestMatt McGuirk (13th)
31
Also Receiving Votes: Gustavus Adolphus 2
Dropped Out: No. 26 UW-Stevens Point, No. 34 Washington (Mo.), No. 35 Hamilton, No. 35 Bates
(* year as head coach of that team in men’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)


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