Johns Hopkins Women, North Central (Ill.) Men Set to Defend Division III Titles as No. 1

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NCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL COACHES POLL TOP 5 – MEN
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
North Central (Ill.).	Washington (Mo.)	St. Olaf	Williams (+1)	Middlebury (+1)
View Complete Men’s National Coaches Poll

Both squads dominated in their regions this past weekend to retain the top spots in their respective polls, while the positions below them underwent a significant shakeup as a result of regionals as teams around the nation jockeyed for position and qualification ahead of the NCAA Championships this Saturday, Nov. 23, in Hanover, Ind.

NCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL COACHES POLL TOP 5 – WOMEN
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Johns Hopkins	Williams (+4)	Calvin (+2)	Middlebury (-2)	Wartburg (-2)
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

Johns Hopkins’ women were the only team in the top 10 to remain stationary in the poll from two weeks ago, while North Central, No. 2 Washington (Mo.), No. 3 St. Olaf and No. 8 Johns Hopkins were the lone men’s squads to stand pat in the top 10.

Many of the moves were significant with 16 men’s teams moving up — or down — more than five positions in the poll and eight more women’s teams doing the same.

Women

In their final tune-up before defending their 2012 NCAA title, the Johns Hopkins women trounced the Mideast Region field. Individual runner-up Hannah Oneda led four Blue Jays in the top five as they scored 26 points to runner-up Dickinson’s 94. The Blue Jays retained all eight first-place votes.

Williams jumped four spots to No. 2 after taking down former No. 2 Middlebury (now No. 4) in the New England Region, 44-57, behind individual champ Kaleigh Kenny and three other top-10 finishers.

No. 3 Calvin jumped two spots to its highest rank since a No. 1 mark entering the 2009 championships following a decisive 54-104-105 win over No. 15 Oberlin and No. 18 Hope. Individual champion Cassie Vince and fourth-place Nicole Michmerhuizen led the way for the Knights. Calvin will hope for the reverse of that 2009 championship, when it entered No. 1 and finished third.

Middlebury dropped two spots to  No. 4 following its loss to Williams in the New England Region. The Panthers were arguably the deepest team in the region with seven top 25 finishers, led by fourth-place Alison Maxwell.

Wartburg, despite winning the Central Region, 86-104, over No. 13 Carleton, fell two slots to No. 5. The Knights had two top-10 finishers led by sixth-place Sammi Bruett, but ran without top runner Alana Enabnit.

No. 6 Chicago moved up one position to No. 6, a spot it has held for much of the season, following a dominant 60-101 victory over No. 14 UW-La Crosse — which increased five positions from the previous poll. Third-place Catherine Young led five top-20 finishers for the Maroons.

Up to its best rank since the beginning of USTFCCCA records in 2006 is No. 7 NYU, which edged out No. 9 St. Lawrence, 97-103, in the Atlantic Region. Ninth-place Emily Cousens paced five top-20 individual finishers for NYU.

St. Lawrence improved seven positions from the previous poll as a result of that close finish, led by third-place finisher Amy Cymerman.

In a loaded New England Region, No. 8 MIT finished third behind No. 2 Williams and No. 4 Middlebury to drop four positions.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps fell two spots to No. 10 despite winning the West Region, 62-81, over No. 25 Willamette.

TCNJ made the poll’s biggest jump, leaping from the "also receiving votes" category to No. 17 with a third-place finish in the Atlantic Region behind No. 7 NYU and No. 9 St.  Lawrence. It is the highest rank for the program since it was No. 16 midway through the 2009 season.

Also returning to the poll were No. 29 Luther, No. 31 Ithaca, No. 34 Colby and No. 35 St. Scholastica.

One of the teams TCNJ defeated to make its triumphant jump into the poll was No. 19 SUNY Geneseo, which fell nine spots from last time. Making similar descents were No. 26 Haverford (down 12 positions) and No. 28 Bates (down eight).

Men

Behind individual winner John Crain, North Central (Ill.) cruised to a 56-101 win over No. 2 Washington (Mo.) in the Midwest Region. Each of the Cardinals’ five scorers finished within the top 20 of arguably the most difficult and deepest region in the nation.

For WashU, Kevin Sparks finished sixth to lead four top-25 finishers.

St. Olaf remained steady at No. 3 with a close 51-61 victory over No. 8 Central (Iowa) in the Central Region. Individual runner-up Grant Wintheiser led three Oles in the top six and seven in the top 25.

Central moved up to spots behind individual winner Eli Horton and two other top-10 runners. The Dutch, who fell into the low-30s in the poll at one point during the season, enter the NCAA Championships just one position shy of their No. 7 preseason rank.

No. 4 is where the action began. A fifth-place finish in the Midwest Region dropped former No. 4 UW-La Crosse eight rungs to No. 12, opening the door for another team to move closer to the top.

 That team would be Williams, which scraped by Middlebury in the New England Region, 77-78, as the two moved to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Williams recorded two of the top three individuals with runner-up Colin Cotton and third-place Chris Lee, but the Panthers showed more depth with four top-20 finishers to Williams’ three.

UW-Oshkosh jumped five spots to No. 6 with a third-place finish in the Midwest Region, just 17 points behind No. 2 Washington (Mo.). Right behind them in the poll was No. 7 SUNY Cortland, which also moved up five slots based on a 37-62 win over former No. 6 NYU (now No. 11) with individual champ Nick Marcantonio.

Johns Hopkins remained No. 8, though it was joined in a tie with the aforementioned Central (Iowa) squad. The Blue Jays won the Mideast over No. 14 Dickinson, 62-88, behind three top-10 finishers.

No. 10 UW-Eau Claire rounded out the top 10 with its fourth-place finish at the Midwest Championships.

Other significant gains include a five-position increase for No. 15 Wabash — which snapped the nation’s longest region winning streak of 17 by Calvin in the Great Lakes Region; No. 21 Pomona-Pitzer (up 14 spots), No. 22 Luther (up six), No. 23 Bates (up nine), No. 24 Allegheny (Pa.) (up seven), No. 24 CMS (up five), No. 24 Wheaton (Ill.) (up six) and No. 27 Carleton (up six).

Returning to the poll was No. 34 Manchester.

The NCAA Championships will be contested November 23 in Hanover, Ind. NCAA.com will carry live broadcasts of all the NCAA cross country championships.

 

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION III
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL
2013 Week #8 — November 18
next poll: none (final rankings, NCAA Championships, November 23)
Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	Head Coach (Yr*)	Last Week
1	North Central (Ill.) (8)	280	Midwest	CCIW	Al Carius (48th)	1
2	Washington (Mo.)	271	Midwest	UAA	Jeff Stiles (13th)	2
3	St. Olaf	260	Central	MIAC	Phil Lundin (6th)	3
4	Williams	253	New England	NESCAC	Peter Farwell (35th)	5
5	Middlebury	243	New England	NESCAC	Nicole Wilkerson (3rd)	6
6	UW-Oshkosh	230	Midwest	WIAC	Eamon McKenna (2nd)	11
7	SUNY Cortland	227	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Steve Patrick (6th)	12
8	Central (Iowa)	213	Central	IIAC	Joe Dunham (6th)	10
8	Johns Hopkins	213	Mideast	Centennial	Bobby Van Allen (15th)	8
10	UW-Eau Claire	210	Midwest	WIAC	Dan Schwamberger (7th)	9
11	NYU	206	Atlantic	UAA	Nick McDonough (16th)	6
12	UW-La Crosse	197	Midwest	WIAC	Derek Stanley (2nd)	4
13	MIT	180	New England	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (32nd)	16
14	Dickinson	175	Mideast	Centennial	Don Nichter (24th)	13
15	Wabash	165	Great Lakes	NCAC	Roger Busch (8th)	20
16	Tufts	150	New England	NESCAC	Ethan Barron (9th)	13
17	Haverford	147	Mideast	Centennial	Tom Donnelly (39th)	15
18	Chicago	126	Midwest	UAA	Chris Hall (13th)	17
19	Calvin	125	Great Lakes	MIAA	Brian Diemer (28th)	18
20	SUNY Geneseo	121	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Mike Woods (22nd)	19
21	Pomona-Pitzer	101	West	SCIAC	Tony Boston (6th)	35
22	Luther	98	Central	IIAC	Steve Pasche (9th)	28
23	Bates	85	New England	NESCAC	Al Fereshetian (19th)	32
24	Allegheny (Pa.)	76	Mideast	NCAC	Brent Wilkerson (4th)	31
24	Wheaton (Ill.)	76	Midwest	CCIW	Scott Bradley (12th)	30
24	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	76	West	SCIAC	John Goldhammer (30th)	29
27	Carleton	69	Central	MIAC	Dave Ricks (7th)	33
28	Bowdoin	65	New England	NESCAC	Peter Slovenski (28th)	21
29	Colby	63	New England	NESCAC	Jared Beers (8th)	26
30	St. Lawrence	55	Atlantic	Liberty League	John Newman (13th)	27
30	UW-Stout	55	Midwest	WIAC	Matt Schauf (7th)	25
32	Loras	50	Central	IIAC	Bob Schultz (9th)	22
33	Carnegie Mellon	42	Mideast	UAA	Dario Donatelli (21st)	24
34	Manchester	25	Great Lakes	HCAC	Brian Cashdollar (16th)	RV
35	RPI	22	Atlantic	Liberty League	John Lynch (3rd)	34
Others Receiving Votes: Rochester 20, Willamette 13, Wartburg 10, Swarthmore 10, SUNY Oneonta 8, Brandeis 7, Amherst 6, St. Thomas (Minn.) 5, UW-Platteville 4, Bridgewater (Va.) 3, Mount Union 2, Augustana (Ill.) 2
Dropped Out: No. 23 Willamette, No. 35 UW-Platteville, No. 35 Rochester
(* year as head coach of that team in men’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)

 

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION III
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL COACHES’ POLL
2013 Week #8 — November 18
next poll: none (final rankings, NCAA Championships, November 23)
Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	Head Coach (Yr*)	Last Week
1	Johns Hopkins (8)	280	Mideast	Centennial	Bobby Van Allen (15th)	1
2	Williams	268	New England	NESCAC	Peter Farwell (14th)	6
3	Calvin	258	Great Lakes	MIAA	Brian Diemer (8th)	5
4	Middlebury	257	New England	NESCAC	Nicole Wilkerson (3rd)	2
5	Wartburg	247	Central	IIAC	Steve Johnson (25th)	3
6	Chicago	243	Midwest	UAA	Chris Hall (13th)	7
7	NYU	229	Atlantic	UAA	Nick McDonough (7th)	9
8	MIT	219	New England	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (7th)	4
9	St. Lawrence	212	Atlantic	Liberty League	Mike Howard (15th)	16
10	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	207	West	SCIAC	John Goldhammer (30th)	8
11	Trinity (Texas)	199	South/Southeast	SCAC	Derick Lawrence (2nd)	12
12	Tufts	182	New England	NESCAC	Kristen Morwick (14th)	11
13	Carleton	176	Central	MIAC	Donna Ricks (21st)	15
14	UW-La Crosse	168	Midwest	WIAC	Derek Stanley (2nd)	19
15	Oberlin	162	Great Lakes	NCAC	Ray Appenheimer (8th)	13
16	Dickinson	155	Mideast	Centennial	Don Nichter (24th)	20
17	TCNJ	150	Atlantic	NJAC	Justin Lindsey (1st)	RV
18	Hope	136	Great Lakes	MIAA	Mark Northuis (26th)	18
19	SUNY Geneseo	135	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Mike Woods (22nd)	10
20	St. Olaf	131	Central	MIAC	Chris Daymont (33rd)	22
21	Washington (Mo.)	125	Midwest	UAA	Jeff Stiles (13th)	17
22	Brandeis	107	New England	UAA	John Evans (10th)	22
23	Marywood	106	Mideast	Colonial States	Kevin Borrelli (6th)	26
24	SUNY Oneonta	97	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Angelo Posillico (4th)	24
25	Willamette	72	West	Northwest	Matt McGuirk (10th)	28
26	Haverford	70	Mideast	Centennial	Fran Rizzo (23rd)	14
26	UW-Stevens Point	70	Midwest	WIAC	Megan Craig (5th)	27
28	Bates	69	New England	NESCAC	Jay Hartshorn (9th)	21
29	Luther	67	Central	IIAC	Yarrow Pasche (9th)	NR
30	Ohio Wesleyan	53	Great Lakes	NCAC	Matt Wackerly (4th)	31
31	Ithaca	44	Atlantic	Empire 8	Erin Dinan (2nd)	NR
32	Hamilton	34	Atlantic	NESCAC	Ellen Hull (21st)	32
33	Elizabethtown	32	Mideast	Middle Atlantic	Brian Falk (6th)	33
34	Colby	31	New England	NESCAC	Deb Aitken (29th)	NR
35	St. Scholastica	12	Central	UMAC	Steve Pfingsten (22nd)	NR
Others Receiving Votes: Mount Union 11, Whitworth 7, Emory 6, St. Benedict 6, Aurora 5, Case Western Reserve 2
Dropped Out: No. 25 Case Western Reserve, No. 29 Vassar, No. 30 St. Benedict, No. 33 Loras, No. 35 Whitworth
(* year as head coach of that team in women’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)