KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Taylor (Ind.) lands at No. 1 for the third time this season in the latest edition of the 2020-21 NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll, released Thursday by the NAIA office.
Three Cascade Collegiate Conference teams sit in the top-25 poll, while another is just on the cusp. College of Idaho leads the pack, breaking into the top-10 after moving up five spots to No. 6. Oregon Tech also made a big jump, moving eight spots to sit in the No. 12 spot. Lewis-Clark State College broke into the top-25 at No. 17, while Northwest University is receiving votes just outside the top-25.
2020 Women's Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll
| RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Taylor (Ind.) [20] |
560 |
| 2 |
2 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
540 |
| 3 |
4 |
Milligan (Tenn.) |
516 |
| 4 |
5 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
494 |
| 5 |
3 |
Huntington (Ind.) |
487 |
| 6 |
6 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
455 |
| 6 |
11 |
College of Idaho |
455 |
| 8 |
7 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
435 |
| 9 |
8 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
414 |
| 10 |
9 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
398 |
| 11 |
10 |
Saint Mary (Kan.) |
381 |
| 12 |
20 |
Oregon Tech |
362 |
| 13 |
13 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
320 |
| 14 |
12 |
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) |
319 |
| 15 |
14 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
311 |
| 16 |
15 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
275 |
| 17 |
NR |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
264 |
| 18 |
16 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
248 |
| 19 |
17 |
Montreat (N.C.) |
240 |
| 20 |
18 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
201 |
| 21 |
19 |
Montana Western |
191 |
| 22 |
NR |
Oklahoma City |
184 |
| 23 |
21 |
Friends (Kan.) |
157 |
| 24 |
22 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
138 |
| 25 |
23 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
130 |
Dropped from the Poll: Westmont (Calif.), Cumberlands (Ky.)
Receiving Votes: Northwest (Wash.) 110, Westmont (Calif.) 88, Cumberlands (Ky.) 80, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 60, St. Ambrose (Iowa) 38, Dalton State (Ga.) 20, Concordia (Neb.) 20, Baker (Kan.) 16, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 11, Missouri Baptist 7, Grace (Ind.) 6, Siena Heights (Mich.) 4, Vanguard (Calif.) 3
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
- Each conference is represented by one rater.
- 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 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.”