2016 Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 5 (Nov. 6)
SOU No. 3, CI No. 6, OIT 18, EOU No. 21
By Spencer Scheve, Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo – British Columbia maintains their position in the No. 1 spot during the final regular-season edition of the 2016 NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Sunday. The NAIA National Championship qualifiers will be announced Monday, Nov. 7 by 5 p.m. CDT.
Top 25 highlights (historical information dates back to 2001):
• British Columbia remains the No. 1-ranked team in the Top 25 Poll, garnering 20 of the 21 first-place votes and 591 points.
• This is the Thunderbirds fourth-straight No. 1 ranking and most in British Columbia history.
• Coming in at No. 2 is St. Francis (Ill.), which earned one first-place vote and 570 points. The Saints have been active in the top five for the last 16 polls.
• Rounding out the top five is Southern Oregon at No. 3 with 553 points, Marian (Ind.) at No. 4 with 528 points and The Master’s (Calif.) at No. 5 with 522 points.
• There are two new teams in the top 10 – No. 5 The Master’s and No. 7 Bacone (Okla.).
•The biggest movement in the Top 25 is Bacone jumping from No. 21 to No. 7 and Taylor (Ind.) climbing from No. 23 to No. 15.
• The Cascade Collegiate Conference leads the NAIA with four teams in the Top 25 – Southern Oregon, No. 6 College of Idaho, No. 18 Oregon Tech and No. 21 Eastern Oregon.
• There are three conferences tied for second most schools in the Top 25 -- Golden State Athletic Conference, Crossroads League and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. All three conferences are tied at three.
• Aquinas (Mich.) snaps a 160 poll streak as it drops out of the Top 25 for the first time since Aug. 22, 2000.
• Only three programs have gone the entire season ranked No. 1 – Oklahoma City (2014), former NAIA member Malone (Ohio) (2008) and former NAIA member Lindenwood (Mo.) (2007).
• There are two new teams in the Top 25 – No. 22 Siena Heights (Mich.) and No. 25 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.).
• The last time Siena Heights was ranked Nov. 23, 2011, when the Saints were ranked No. 14.
• The last time Embry-Riddle was ranked was Oct. 12, when the Eagles were ranked No. 23.
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"
• The frequency of polls occur bi-weekly for the 2016 season.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click
here.
2016 NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Regular Season Top 25 Poll – (Nov. 6)
| RANK |
LAST |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
British Columbia (20) |
591 |
| 2 |
2 |
St. Francis (Ill.) (1) |
570 |
| 3 |
3 |
Southern Oregon |
553 |
| 4 |
4 |
Marian (Ind.) |
528 |
| 5 |
12 |
The Master’s (Calif.) |
522 |
| 6 |
7 |
College of Idaho |
467 |
| 7 |
21 |
Bacone (Okla.) |
445 |
| 8 |
8 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
435 |
| 9 |
9 |
Missouri Valley |
431 |
| 10 |
10 |
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
424 |
| 11 |
11 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
393 |
| 12 |
5 |
Biola (Calif.) |
385 |
| 13 |
6 |
Oklahoma City |
372 |
| 14 |
13 |
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) |
324 |
| 15 |
23 |
Taylor (Ind.) |
322 |
| 16 |
20 |
Indiana Tech |
309 |
| 17 |
16 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
299 |
| 18 |
25 |
Oregon Tech |
260 |
| 19 |
14 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
258 |
| 20 |
19 |
Saint Mary (Kan.) |
238 |
| 21 |
15 |
Eastern Oregon |
201 |
| 22 |
NR |
Seina Heights (Mich.) |
200 |
| 23 |
22 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
187 |
| 24 |
17 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
152 |
| 25 |
NR |
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) |
115 |
|
|
|
|
Others receiving votes: Aquinas (Mich.) 104; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 74; Carroll (Mont.) 58; Dordt (Iowa) 53; Columbia (Mo.) 31; Milligan (Tenn.) 30; Rio Grande (Ohio) 28; Indiana Wesleyan 16; Vanguard (Calif.) 14; Northwest Christian (Ore.) 11; Madonna (Mich.) 9; Goshen (Ind.) 3; Campbellsville (Ky.) 3