2015 NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 4 (Oct. 7)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Christian (Ore.) is the new No. 1 ranked team in the fourth-regular season edition of the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced on Wednesday. The fifth regular-season poll will be released on Oct. 14.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
• Northwest Christian (Ore.) is No. 1 for the first time since the preseason poll on Aug. 26. The Beacons received 18 of the 19 possible first-place votes, for a total of 529 points. Aquinas (Mich.) is No. 2 with 491 points.
• The final first-place vote went to No. 3 British Columbia. The Thunderbirds were ranked No. 1 in the past three regular-season polls.
• No. 5 Taylor (Ind.) enters the top 5 for the first time since Oct. 22, 2014, when they were ranked No. 4.
• No. 25 Cornerstone (Mich.) is the only newcomer into the Top 25 poll this week. The Golden Eagles appear in the Top 25 for the first time since Oct. 8, 2014.
• Tennessee Wesleyan, previously ranked No. 23, was the only team to drop out of the poll.
• No. 7 College of Idaho and No. 10 Shawnee State (Ohio) highlight the positive movement within the Top 25, as both teams moved up three spots.
• No. 6 Carroll (Mont.) was the biggest negative movement as the Fighting Saints dropped three spots.
• Former NAIA-member Simon Fraser (B.C.) has the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 40.
• No. 12 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) makes its 139-consecutive appearance in the Top 25, the longest active streak in the NAIA.
• Twelve of the 21 conferences are represented in the top 25.
• The Cascade Collegiate Conference leads all leagues with four teams represented in the Top 25 – Northwest Christian, College of Idaho, No. 15 Southern Oregon and No. 18 Oregon Tech. The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, Golden State Athletic Conference, Great Plains Athletic Conference and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference each have three teams represented.
• British Columbia (2013), Simon Fraser (2005, 2006 and 2007) and Northwest (Wash.) (2003) are the only teams to go the entire season ranked No. 1.
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low ratings) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click
here.
2015 Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 4 (Oct. 7)
| RANK |
LAST |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
2 |
Northwest Christian (Ore.) (18) |
529 |
| 2 |
4 |
Aquinas (Mich.) |
491 |
| 3 |
1 |
British Columbia (1) |
482 |
| 4 |
5 |
Biola (Calif.) |
472 |
| 5 |
6 |
Taylor (Ind.) |
465 |
| 6 |
3 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
447 |
| 7 |
10 |
College of Idaho |
433 |
| 8 |
7 |
The Master’s (Calif.) |
419 |
| 9 |
8 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
395 |
| 10 |
13 |
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
380 |
| 11 |
9 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
356 |
| 12 |
11 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
349 |
| 13 |
12 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
324 |
| 14 |
14 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
318 |
| 15 |
16 |
Southern Oregon |
286 |
| 16 |
17 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
265 |
| 17 |
15 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
263 |
| 18 |
20 |
Oregon Tech |
230 |
| 19 |
18 |
Milligan (Tenn.) |
227 |
| 20 |
19 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
212 |
| 21 |
20 |
Oklahoma City |
184 |
| 22 |
22 |
Doane (Neb.) |
166 |
| 23 |
24 |
Siena Heights (Mich.) |
152 |
| 24 |
25 |
Trinity Christian (Ill.) |
139 |
| 25 |
RV |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
101 |
| |
|
|
|
Dropped from the top 25: Tennessee Wesleyan
Others receiving votes: Texas Wesleyan 84; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 75; Morningside (Iowa) 70; SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 66; Tennessee Wesleyan 43; Corban (Ore.) 10; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 9; St. Ambrose (Iowa) 5; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 3; Madonna (Mich.) 3.