2017 NAIA Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll — Aug. 23
SOU No. 1, EOU No. 6, OIT No. 17, NCU RV
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After earning its second NAIA National Championship title in the 2016 season, Southern Oregon will start at No. 1 for the NAIA Men’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
- Southern Oregon has tallied a total of 31 No. 1 rankings in school history, 19 of those came in the last five years. In this poll, Southern Oregon received 15 of the 19 first place votes.
- The Raiders of Southern Oregon will return five of their top seven athletes that were a part of the 2016 championship team. The team starts its season at the University of Washington Sundodger Invitational on Sept. 16.
- There were three teams that made the jump into the Top 25 including: No. 19 Carroll (Mont.), No. 24 Wayland Baptist (Texas) and No. 25 Columbia (Mo.)
- Southern Oregon holds the record for the most No. 1 appearances with a total of 31.
- Southern Oregon holds the longest active streak for being in the top 25 with a total of 85 appearances dating back to 2008.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
- Each conference is given one rater for every four schools in the league.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) 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 appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”
For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here
| RANK |
WEEK |
SCHOOL |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Southern Oregon |
526 |
| 2 |
2 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
508 |
| 3 |
3 |
British Columbia |
503 |
| 4 |
5 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
464 |
| 5 |
8 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
440 |
| 6 |
13 |
Eastern Oregon |
430 |
| 7 |
6 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
419 |
| 8 |
9 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
405 |
| 9 |
10 |
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
402 |
| 10 |
4 |
College of Idaho |
371 |
| 11 |
11 |
Missouri Valley |
347 |
| 12 |
14 |
Marian (Ind.) |
341 |
| 13 |
14 |
Saint Mary (Kan.) |
328 |
| 14 |
7 |
Oklahoma City |
302 |
| 15 |
18 |
Taylor (Ind.) |
297 |
| 16 |
12 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
272 |
| 17 |
19 |
Oregon Tech |
245 |
| 18 |
20 |
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) |
231 |
| 19 |
NR |
Carroll (Mont.) |
208 |
| 20 |
23 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
203 |
| 21 |
22 |
Aquinas (Mich.) |
176 |
| 22 |
21 |
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) |
152 |
| 23 |
24 |
Milligan (Tenn.) |
145 |
| 24 |
NR |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
128 |
| 25 |
RV |
Columbia (Mo.) |
118 |
|
Dropped from the Top 25: No. 16 Bacone (Okla.), No. 17 Rio Grande (Ohio), No. 25 Indiana Tech
Others Receiving Votes: Campbellsville (Ky.) 105, Indiana Tech 92, Indiana Wesleyan 84, Northwest Christian (Ore.), 46, Morningside (Iowa) 45, William Care (miss.) 35, Montreat (N.C.) 19, Rio Grande (Ohio) 15, Kansas Wesleyan 12, Siena Heights (Mich.) 12, Midland (Neb.) 7, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 7.
^ Top 25 ranking from Aug. 23, 2017 Top 25 Poll