Pair of New Women’s No. 1 Squads Headline Division II XC Regional Rankings

REGIONAL PDFs: Regional Summary | Week-by-Week | Division II XC Rankings Central

National preseason No. 5 Chico State was usurped by national No. 7 Alaska Anchorage and fell two spots in the West Region rankings, while national No. 6 Shippensburg tumbled three spots from preseason favorite to No. 4 in the Atlantic Region after being dethroned by national No. 18 Indiana (Pa.). These shakeups could manifest themselves in Wednesday’s National Coaches Polls.

Alaska Anchorage jumped out to a quick start to the 2013 season with a two-week stay in Hawaii that saw them claim perfect-score titles at both the BYU Hawaii and Chaminade invitationals behind strong runs from senior Susan Tanui and a group of Seawolves that includes numerous experienced upperclassmen.

Simon Fraser also climbed past Chico State into the No. 2 position.

Indiana (Pa.) took control of the Atlantic Region after former No. 1 Shippensburg dropped three spots and previous No. 2 Mansfield slid four. Unofficially, the Crimson Hawks finished third among Division II squads at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational and opened the season with a team title at the Seton Hill Griffin Classic.

Edinboro also moved up two spots to No. 2, while California (Pa.) leapt up six spots to No. 3.

Meanwhile, all was quiet atop the men’s regions with the preseason No. 1 teams remaining as such for at least one more set of rankings. The closest move toward the top was Georgia Regents jumping four spots to No. 2 in the Southeast Region behind Mount Olive.

NCAA Division II Regional Championships will be held November 9 & 10, and more information about host sites and dates for specific meets can be found at Regional Championships Central.