Malone Continues Hold on No. 1 NAIA Men's Ranking
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The third installment of the NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 keeps Malone University (Ohio) on top followed by Aquinas College (Mich.), the NAIA announced Wednesday. The Pioneers grabbed 20-of-21 possible first-place votes, while the Saints were awarded one. Rounding out the top five teams are No. 3 Concordia University (Neb.), No. 4 Oklahoma Christian University and No. 5 University of British Columbia.
Two new teams are welcomed to this week’s Top 25 in No. 20 College of Idaho and No. 21 Dakota State (S.D.). Both squads were receiving votes in last week’s poll. The American Mideast Conference and Association of Independent Institutions both have a trio of teams represented this week. For the AMC, Malone, No. 9 Shawnee State (Ohio) and No. 13 Cedarville (Ohio) are listed, while the AII sports British Columbia, No. 8 California State-San Marcos and No. 12 Simon Fraser (B.C.).
Malone is spending its 26th straight week as the top-ranked men’s team, earning 591 points. Aquinas is 22 points back at No. 2 with 569 points. Teams ranked Nos. 3-5 this week all bumped up one spot from a week ago, with Concordia moving into No. 3 with 528 points, Oklahoma Christian at 513 points and British Columbia standing with 497.
The week’s biggest mover among the Top 25 is Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.), going from No. 3 to 7.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The next poll will be released on Oct. 7.