Colorado Mines Men & Western State Women Make Gains in Division II National Coaches Polls

NEW ORLEANS – The state of Colorado experienced significant cross country success this past weekend, which is reflected in a pair of its Division II teams making movements in the top five of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Coaches Polls released Wednesday.

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

Western State’s women moved into a tie with Augustana (S.D.) at No. 3, while the Colorado Mines men jumped two places to No. 4 in their poll to give Colorado two of the three best women’s squads and three of the nation’s top four men’s teams.

Men

NCAA DIVISION II NATIONAL COACHES POLL TOP 5 – MEN
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Adams St.	Western St.	GVSU	Colorado Mines (+2)	Chico St. (-1)
View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll

In what was the biggest move in either the men’s or women’s top 10, Colorado Mines — runner-up at the NCAA Championships a year ago — jumped two spots to No. 4 following a head-to-head Stanford Invitational victory over Chico State, which was ranked No. 4 a week ago but relinquished its spot to CSM and dropped to No. 5 this week.

Now firmly back in the top five, Colorado Mines and its four returning All-Americans from a year ago will take a crack and digging even farther into the top five.

Among the three teams ahead of the Orediggers — all of which remained stationary in the polls — were two from Colorado: No. 1 Adams State and No. 2 Western State. Grand Valley State came in at No. 3 once more.

Adams State, without 2012 NCAA Championships fourth-place individual finisher Matt Daniels, took fourth among 22 Division I schools and ahead of Grand Valley State (12th) at the Merrill Fischbein Men’s Gold Division I race at the Roy Griak Invitational. National Athlete of the Week Kevin Batt was half a step from the individual title and teammate Tabor Stevens finished just behind in third as the Grizzlies were just eight points away from a top-three team finish.

RMAC rival Western State turned in a similarly strong performance at the Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout, where the Mountaineers finished runners-up to No. 2 Colorado of Division I. Sophomore Vegard Olstad led the way with a third-place finish, second among collegians, to pace three Mountaineers within the top eight collegiate finishers.

The Augustana (S.D.) men won the Maroon II race at the Griak in convincing fashion, but not convincingly enough to prevent dropping one spot to No. 6.

No. 7 Southern Indiana was idle both on the course and in the polls, while No. 8 Edinboro moved up one spot after breaking a tie with Alaska Anchorage, which fell to 10. Missouri Southern now occupies the No. 9 position after a one-spot slide.

Joining the poll for the first time this season and the second time in program history is UC San Diego at No. 18 — an all-time high for the Tritons, who made one other appearance at No. 28 toward the end of the 2012 season.

In a tie at No. 22, Sioux Falls joined the top 25, while Cal Poly Pomona made a return to the poll. Sioux Falls’ mark is the highest in program history, up from No. 32 near the end of 2012 in its only other appearance. Cal Poly Pomona was No. 25 in week one of this season.

Women

NCAA DIVISION II NATIONAL COACHES POLL TOP 5 – WOMEN
1)	2)	t3)	t3)	5)
GVSU	Adams St.	Augustana (S.D.)	Western St. (+1)	Alaska Anchorage
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

At the Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout, the Western State women finished runner-up to Division I Colorado and second among nine teams. Junior Tara Richardson finished 10th overall to lead the Mountaineers, who placed three runners within the first 16 finishers.

Meanwhile, Augustana (S.D.) — the team with which WSCU is tied — won the Maroon II race at the Roy Griak Invitational, led in race-record fashion by winner and now-two-time National Athlete of the Week Runa Falch.

The top two women’s teams remained stationary as No. 1 Grand Valley State and No. 2 Adams State — another Colorado team — finished ninth and 11th, respectively, in the Jack Johnson Women’s Gold Division I section of the Griak among 25 other Division I squads.

In non-Colorado top-10 women’s action, Chico State defeated Simon Fraser head-to-head at the Stanford Invitational as the two swapped spots to No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. No. 8 Southern Indiana, No. 9 Metro State and No. 10 UC-Colorado Springs held steady to round out the top 10.

New to the women’s polls were former National Athlete of the Week Jennifer Agnew and her No. 21 U-Mary team, and No. 23 Columbus State, while No. 24 Shippensburg rejoined the poll.

No. 17 Pittsburg State was the big gainer this week with a five-spot increase after a third-place team showing at the Roy Griak Maroon II race behind individual runner-up Jessica Macy.

The Division II National Championships will be held Saturday,November 23, in Spokane, Wash.

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL RANKINGS
2013 Week #3 — October 2
next release: October 9
Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	Head Coach (Yr*)	Last Week
1	Adams State (7)	199	South Central	RMAC	Damon Martin (19th)	1
2	Western State (1)	193	South Central	RMAC	Jennifer Michel (7th)	2
3	Grand Valley State	178	Midwest	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (15th)	3
4	Colorado Mines	175	South Central	RMAC	Chris Siemers (2nd)	6
5	Chico State	170	West	CCAA	Gary Towne (18th)	4
6	Augustana (S.D.)	159	Central	NSIC	Tracy Hellman (13th)	5
7	Southern Indiana	158	Midwest	GLVC	Mike Hillyard (16th)	7
8	Edinboro	136	Atlantic	PSAC	Rick Hammer (1st)	9
9	Missouri Southern	133	Central	MIAA	Bryan Schiding (1st)	8
10	Alaska Anchorage	128	West	GNAC	Michael Friess (24th)	9
11	New Mexico Highlands	115	South Central	RMAC	Bob DeVries (22nd)	11
12	Mount Olive	106	Southeast	Conf. Carolinas	Matt van Lierop (5th)	13
13	American International	102	East	Northeast-10	Leo Mayo (8th)	12
14	Lock Haven	91	Atlantic	PSAC	Aaron Russell (16th)	14
15	Central Missouri	86	Central	MIAA	Kirk Pedersen (27th)	16
16	Cedarville	76	Midwest	G-MAC	Paul Orchard (11th)	15
17	Metro State	72	South Central	RMAC	Nick Maas (1st)	17
18	UC San Diego	57	West	CCAA	Nate Garcia (7th)	RV
19	Malone	56	Midwest	GLIAC	Jack Hazen (47th)	19
20	West Texas A&M	45	South Central	Lone Star	Darren Flowers (5th)	22
21	Shippensburg	40	Atlantic	PSAC	Steve Spence (16th)	21
22	Cal Poly Pomona	20	West	CCAA	Octavious Gillespie-Bennett (2nd)	RV
22	Sioux Falls	20	Central	NSIC	Grant Watley (2nd)	RV
24	Ashland	18	Midwest	GLIAC	Trent Mack (4th)	25
25	Southwest Baptist	15	Central	MIAA	Corey McElhaney (6th)	20
25	Stonehill	15	East	Northeast-10	Karen Boen (16th)	23
Also Receiving Votes: UC-Colorado Springs 14, Humboldt State 8, Alabama-Huntsville 6, Montana St.-Billings 6, Neb.-Kearney 2, Franklin Pierce 1
Dropped Out: No. 18 Humboldt State, No. 23 UC-Colorado Springs
(* year as head coach of that team in men’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)

 

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL RANKINGS
2013 Week #3 — October 2
next release: October 9
Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	Head Coach (Yr*)	Last Week
1	Grand Valley State (8)	200	Midwest	GLIAC	Jerry Baltes (15th)	1
2	Adams State	192	South Central	RMAC	Damon Martin (26th)	2
3	Augustana (S.D.)	179	Central	NSIC	Tracy Hellman (13th)	3
3	Western State	179	South Central	RMAC	Jennifer Michel (7th)	4
5	Alaska Anchorage	168	West	GNAC	Michael Friess (24th)	5
6	Chico State	160	West	CCAA	Gary Towne (18th)	7
7	Simon Fraser	152	West	GNAC	Brit Townsend (14th)	6
8	Southern Indiana	146	Midwest	GLVC	Mike Hillyard (17th)	8
9	Metro State	133	South Central	RMAC	Nick Maas (1st)	9
10	UC-Colorado Springs	125	South Central	RMAC	David Harmer (2nd)	10
11	Indiana (Pa.)	113	Atlantic	PSAC	Joey Zins (5th)	11
12	UW-Parkside	108	Midwest	GLVC	Micah VanDenend (4th)	12
13	Minnesota Duluth	97	Central	NSIC	Joanna Warmington (3rd)	14
14	Edinboro	90	Atlantic	PSAC	Rick Hammer (1st)	13
15	Malone	77	Midwest	GLIAC	Jack Hazen (23rd)	17
16	Hillsdale	72	Midwest	GLIAC	Andrew Towne (3rd)	18
17	Midwestern State	63	South Central	Lone Star	Koby Styles (7th)	16
17	Pittsburg State	63	Central	MIAA	Russ Jewett (28th)	22
19	Tampa	57	South	Sunshine	Jarrett Slaven (15th)	15
20	California (Pa.)	52	Atlantic	PSAC	Daniel Caulfield (8th)	19
21	U-Mary	32	Central	NSIC	Dennis Newell (8th)	NR
22	Stonehill	30	East	Northeast-10	Karen Boen (16th)	21
23	Columbus State	24	Southeast	Peach Belt	J.D. Evilsizer (9th)	RV
24	Shippensburg	15	Atlantic	PSAC	Steve Spence (16th)	RV
24	Dallas Baptist	15	South Central	Heartland Conference	Jacob Phillips (9th)	24
Also Receiving Votes: Southwest Baptist 14, Ferris State 14, Cal State Stanislaus 11, Alabama-Huntsville 7, Wingate 6, Merrimack 3, Seton Hill 1, UC San Diego 1, Missouri Southern 1
Dropped Out: No. 20 Southwest Baptist, No. 23 West Texas A&M, No. 24 Cal State Stanislaus
(* year as head coach of that team in women’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)