FloTrack College XC Rankings Presented by HOKA

New Mexico Stars, BYU Women Surge To Top Of NCAA Cross Country Rankings

New Mexico Stars, BYU Women Surge To Top Of NCAA Cross Country Rankings

After a jam-packed weekend of racing headlined by the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals, the FloTrack College XC Rankings were shaken up quite a bit.

Oct 22, 2024 by Maxx Bradley
New Mexico Stars, BYU Women Surge To Top Of NCAA Cross Country Rankings

Following a chaotic and action-packed weekend of good ol' fashioned cross country racing, there was quite a bit of movement throughout the FloTrack College XC Rankings presented by HOKA.

After a pair of losses to defending national champion Graham Blanks last fall, Habtom Samuel turned the tables at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals. The new Zimmer Championship Course record-holder led seven men below 23:00, breaking the tape in 22:33.8, seven seconds ahead of Blanks

After their stellar runs in Wisconsin, Samuel and Blanks sit No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings. After a weekend off from competition, former course record holder Parker Wolfe of North Carolina moved back a spot to No. 3.

Oklahoma State's Denis Kipngetich and Texas Tech's Solomon Kipchoge each moved up a spot to No. 4 and No. 5, both coming off of wins at the Weis-Crockett Invitational and Arturo Barrios Invitational, respectively.

Fellow Cowboy Brian Musau sits No. 6, while Arkansas' Patrick Kiprop, Texas Tech's Ernest Cheruiyot, and the Cowboy duo of Fouad Messaoudi and Ryan Schoppe round out the top-10.

While there weren't any crazy jumps inside the top-15, Eastern Kentucky's Justine Kipkoech's third-place finish at Pre-Nationals moved him up 19 spots to No. 15.

In the wake of another busy weekend, top-ranked Oklahoma State still sits alone at the top, and it will take quite the performance from a worthy challenger to convince anyone otherwise.

After their dominant win at Pre-Nationals, the Razorbacks look to be in 'no man's land'. They aren't quite on the same level as Oklahoma State (not yet), but they've proven they're the best of the rest.

BYU and Iowa State come in this week at No. 3 and No. 4, holding steady in the same spots they sat previously. 

After the best race of their season, and arguably one of their best races over the last two years, the Stanford Cardinal appear to be back, taking the last spot inside the top-5. Palo Alto's finest finished third in Wisconsin, just 14 points back of the Cyclones.

New Mexico, Northern Arizona, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame fill out the remainder of the top-10, with the Badgers being the lone new face of the bunch.

On the Women's Side

Alabama's Doris Lemngole solidified her top ranking with a solid win at the Crimson Classic. The Crimson Tide star finished side-by-side with teammate Brenda Tuwei (No. 52), with the duo crossing in 19:04 for the 5926m race. 

While most people expected Florida's Hilda Olemomoi to come out on top in her long-awaited Florida debut, it was New Mexico's Pamela Kosgei who spoiled her return and took home the win at Pre-Nats, more than enough to move up 18 spots to No. 2. Kosgei clocked 18:59.1 to break Parker Valby's course record, while Olemomoi was runner-up in 19:02.9, bumping her down a spot to No. 3.

Georgetown's Chloe Scrimgeour fell to No. 4 after she finished  runner-up at the Princeton Fall Classic to Providence's A (No. 7), and Texas Tech's Juliet Cherubet jumped to No. 5 following her win at the Arturo Barrios Invitational. 

Gonzaga's Rosina Machu and Providence's May both moved up to No. 6 and No. 7, with May jumping 12 spots after her win in New Jersey. 

After sitting outside of the top-10 a week ago, Penn State's Florence Caron, Georgetown's Lucy Jenks, and Northern Arizona's Karrie Baloga all joined in on the fun, coming in at No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10.

A few other big movers were Providence's Alex Millard (No. 11), Tulane's Caroline Jeptanui (No. 12), and NC State's Grace Hartman (No. 13), who each surged over 30 spots to a top-15 ranking.

After their eye-opening win over the weekend, BYU bumped Northern Arizona out of the top spot. Diljeet Taylor's squad put on a clinic on the national course as Lexy Halladay-Lowry (No. 17), Carmen Alder (No. 30), and Jenna Hutchins (No. 37) all finished in the top-20, helping the Cougars cruise to a 52 point win over No. 4 Washington.

No. 3 Northern Arizona finished third in Wisconsin behind both BYU and Washington, but managed to fall just one spot in this week's rankings. 

After taking down Providence at the Princeton Fall Classic, Georgetown moved to No. 3, flipping places with the Huskies. 

After a monumental performance at Pre-Nationals, Ceili McCabe and the West Virginia Mountaineers round out the top-5, a 27 spot jump. 

Notre Dame and New Mexico each worked their way into the top-10 after finishing 5th and 6th in Wisconsin, respectively. 

No. 8 Providence stayed put after a runner-up finish to the Hoyas, while Utah and Oregon sit No. 9 and No. 10 following an off week.