Southern Oregon's top-ranked men's cross country team, No. 1 in the nation for the second week in a row, displays some of its 2009 hardware after a recent meet in Portland. SOU has won all four invitationals it has participated in this season and is seeking to defend its Cascade Collegiate Conference team championship Saturday in Springfield.
SOU Men (No. 1) Among 6 Ranked XC Teams
KANSAS CITY -- Southern Oregon University will spend its second week as the No. 1 team in the
NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25, the NAIA announced Wednesday. The Raiders earned 13 first-place votes for 614 points. Malone University (Ohio) is ranked second with 609 points and is followed by No. 3 Aquinas College (Mich.), No. 4 Concordia University (Neb.) and No. 5 University of British Columbia.
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) was this week’s biggest mover, climbing four spots to No. 8 to reclaim a spot among the top 10 after being ranked as high as third in the Oct. 21 poll. No. 25 Concordia (Ore.) is ranked for the first time since the Sept. 16 poll, where the Cavaliers were listed sixth. Nine other teams adjusted rankings, but by no more than two spots.
The Cascade Collegiate Conference leads all conferences with four ranked teams: Southern Oregon, No. 11 College of Idaho, No. 19 Eastern Oregon and No. 25 Concordia. The American Mideast Conference and Association of Independent Institutions each boast a trio of nationally ranked squads. Malone leads the way in the AMC, followed by No. 6 Shawnee State (Ohio) and No. 18 Cedarville (Ohio). Representing the AII is British Columbia, No. 7 California State-San Marcos and No. 12 Simon Fraser (B.C.).
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The final regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on Sunday by 7 p.m. CST. To track all Conference/Independent Races, click here. National Championship teams and individual qualifiers will be announced on Nov. 9 by 5 p.m. CST.
In the NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25, College of Idaho (No. 6) and Eastern Oregon (No. 19) maintained their positions from last week. In addition, Southern Oregon and Concordia are in the others receiving votes category.