GVSU Women No. 1, Men No. 2 in USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings; SVSU Men 9th

GVSU Women No. 1, Men No. 2 in USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings; SVSU Men 9th

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 PanningTrevor 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

 

 

 

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II

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