Cal State San Marcos Moves into NAIA Women's No. 1 Ranking
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Leaping five spots from the preseason poll (Aug. 26), California State University-San Marcos has claimed the No. 1 spot in the first regular season NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Women's Cross Country poll of the 2009 season, the NAIA announced Wednesday. The Cougars captured 14-of-23 possible first-place votes for an overwhelming 643 points for their first-ever No. 1 women's cross country rating, dating back to the 2005 season. Biola University (Calif.) and Cedarville University (Ohio) are tied for second, followed by Simon Fraser University (B.C.) and Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) to round out the top five.
The Golden State Athletic Conference leads all conferences represented in this week's poll with four nationally ranked squads in Biola, Azusa Pacific, No. 8 Concordia University (Calif.) and No. 13 Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.). Following the GSAC is three teams from the American Mideast Conference, Cedarville, No. 6 Malone University (Ohio) and No. 23 Shawnee State University (Ohio).
Since the preseason poll, only three of the nation's top-10 teams have held steady to their ranking with, No. 2 Cedarville, No. 9 Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) and No. 10 Indiana Wesleyan University. Two programs, No. 19 Morningside College (Iowa) and No. 21 Friends University (Kan.) make their first appearance in the Top 25 in the 2009 campaign.
Coming in at a tie for the No. 2 spot with 613 points are Biola and Cedarville. Biola moves up one spot from No. 3 in the preseason poll and was awarded four first-place votes. Tied with the Eagles, Cedarville garnered five first-place votes.
Preseason No. 1, Simon Fraser drops to No. 4 in the first edition of the 2009 poll. The Clan earned 607 points to hang tight with Biola and Cedarville. Defending national champion Azusa Pacific jumps two spots from No. 7 to 5 with 574 points.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The next poll will be released on Sept. 23.