WOMEN'S RANKINGS – It’s never a given that the team that finishes with the championship hardware the year before is the automatic favorite out of the gate the following season. It’s even less common when that team loses its best performer.
But that wasn’t stopping Grand Valley State from sitting atop the NCAA Division II Cross Country Women’s National Coaches Poll, announced the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday.
Despite losing 2016 NCAA Division II Cross Country individual champion Kendra Foley to graduation, the Lakers are slated to be strong once again heading into the 2017 campaign. The deep squad does return Stacey Metzger, who finished 15th (20:57.8) at nationals a year ago as the highest-finishing freshman. Because of this, GVSU garnered seven of the possible eight first-place votes in the preseason poll.
MEN'S RANKINGS – A year ago, Adams State’s men’s cross country squad ran away with the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship in Saint Leo, Florida. After almost a year, things may not be much different in 2017.
Grand Valley State ranks second to open the season. The Lakers return three top-50 finishers from a runner-up performance at the national meet a year ago in Zach Panning, Trevor Sharnas and Wuoi Mach.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL |
||||||
Rank | Institution (FPV) | Points | Region (CR) | Conference | Head Coach (Yr*) |
2016 FINAL
|
1 | Grand Valley State (7) | 199 | Midwest (1) | GLIAC | Jerry Baltes (19th) |
1
|
2 | Adams State (1) | 193 | South Central (1) | RMAC | Damon Martin (30th) |
2
|
3 | Western State | 183 | South Central (2) | RMAC | Jennifer Michel (11th) |
3
|
4 | Chico State | 177 | West (1) | CCAA | Gary Towne (22nd) |
4
|
5 | Southern Indiana | 166 | Midwest (2) | GLVC | Mike Hillyard (21st) |
5
|
6 | U-Mary | 156 | Central (1) | NSIC | Dennis Newell (12th) |
7
|
7 | Alaska Anchorage | 152 | West (2) | GNAC | Michael Friess (28th) |
8
|
8 | Cal Baptist | 145 | West (3) | PacWest | Ben Gall (6th) |
9
|
9 | Minnesota Duluth | 129 | Central (2) | NSIC | Joanna Warmington (8th) |
10
|
9 | Point Loma Nazarene | 129 | West (4) | PacWest | Jerry Arvin (25th) |
12
|
11 | Colorado Mines | 115 | South Central (3) | RMAC | Chris Siemers (6th) |
13
|
12 | Cedarville | 113 | Midwest (3) | G-MAC | Jeff Bolender (8th) |
11
|
13 | Northern Michigan | 101 | Midwest (4) | GLIAC | Jenny Ryan (11th) |
14
|
14 | Simon Fraser | 85 | West (5) | GNAC | Brit Townsend (18th) |
6
|
15 | Hillsdale | 83 | Midwest (5) | G-MAC | Andrew Towne (7th) |
17
|
16 | Queens (N.C.) | 80 | Southeast (1) | SAC | Jim Vahrenkamp (6th) |
15
|
17 | UC-Colorado Springs | 69 | South Central (4) | RMAC | Corey Kubatzky (3rd) |
20
|
18 | Southwest Baptist | 60 | Central (3) | MIAA | Corey McElhaney (10th) |
21
|
19 | Saint Leo | 43 | South (1) | Sunshine | Kent Reiber (3rd) |
25
|
20 | CSU-Pueblo | 39 | South Central (5) | RMAC | Matt Morris (5th) |
16
|
21 | Stonehill | 34 | East (1) | Northeast-10 | Karen Boen (20th) |
22
|
22 | Shippensburg | 30 | Atlantic (1) | PSAC | Steve Spence (20th) |
24
|
22 | Cal State San Marcos | 30 | West (6) | CCAA | Steve Scott (19th) |
—
|
24 | Augustana (S.D.) | 28 | Central (4) | NSIC | Tracy Hellman (17th) |
—
|
25 | Lee (Tenn.) | 14 | South (2) | Gulf South | Caleb Morgan (4th) |
28
|
Also Receiving Votes: Malone 11, Cal Poly Pomona 10, Lewis 6, Dallas Baptist 4, Bellarmine 4, Assumption 4, Walsh 3, Montevallo (Ala.) 3, Seattle Pacific 2 |
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL | ||||||
Rank | Institution (FPV) | Points | Region (CR) | Conference | Head Coach (Yr*) |
2016 FINAL
|
1 | Adams State (8) | 200 | South Central (1) | RMAC | Damon Martin (23rd) |
1
|
2 | Grand Valley State | 190 | Midwest (1) | GLIAC | Jerry Baltes (19th) |
2
|
3 | Colorado Mines | 183 | South Central (2) | RMAC | Chris Siemers (6th) |
3
|
4 | Chico State | 178 | West (1) | CCAA | Gary Towne (22nd) |
4
|
5 | Alaska Anchorage | 165 | West (2) | GNAC | Michael Friess (28th) |
5
|
6 | Southern Indiana | 152 | Midwest (2) | GLVC | Mike Hillyard (20th) |
13
|
7 | CSU-Pueblo | 149 | South Central (3) | RMAC | Matt Morris (5th) |
9
|
8 | Cal Poly Pomona | 130 | West (3) | CCAA | Octavious Gillespie-Bennett (6th) |
8
|
9 | Saginaw Valley | 128 | Midwest (3) | GLIAC | Rod Cowan (8th) |
10
|
10 | Missouri Southern | 109 | Central (1) | MIAA | Bryan Schiding (5th) |
7
|
11 | Lewis | 104 | Midwest (4) | GLVC | James Kearney (4th) |
17
|
12 | Cal Baptist | 103 | West (4) | PacWest | Ben Gall (6th) |
15
|
13 | Lee (Tenn.) | 98 | South (1) | Gulf South | Caleb Morgan (4th) |
18
|
14 | Shippensburg | 90 | Atlantic (1) | PSAC | Steve Spence (20th) |
16
|
15 | Augustana (S.D.) | 87 | Central (2) | NSIC | Tracy Hellman (17th) |
12
|
16 | Mount Olive | 80 | Southeast (1) | Conf. Carolinas | Matt Van Lierop (9th) |
25
|
17 | American International | 75 | East (1) | Northeast-10 | Leo Mayo (12th) |
22
|
18 | West Texas A&M | 67 | South Central (4) | Lone Star | Jake Krolick (1st) |
20
|
19 | Queens (N.C.) | 56 | Southeast (2) | SAC | Jim Vahrenkamp (6th) |
31
|
20 | Hillsdale | 52 | Midwest (5) | G-MAC | Andrew Towne (4th) |
14
|
21 | Academy of Art | 40 | West (5) | PacWest | Torrey Olson (3rd) |
11
|
21 | Northwest Missouri | 40 | Central (3) | MIAA | Scott Lorek (10th) |
19
|
23 | Western State | 39 | South Central (5) | RMAC | Jennifer Michel (11th) |
6
|
24 | Stonehill | 26 | East (2) | Northeast-10 | Karen Boen (20th) |
24
|
24 | UC San Diego | 26 | West (6) | CCAA | Nate Garcia (11th) |
—
|
Also Receiving Votes: Edinboro 17, Walsh 12, Western Washington 2, Bellarmine 1, Indiana (Pa.) 1 |