KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The College of Idaho leads six Cascade Collegiate Conference teams receiving votes in the preseason edition of the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, released Thursday by the national office.
After finishing as the national runner-up in the spring, the Coyotes enter the 2021 campaign ranked as the No. 3 team in the NAIA. C of I was picked to win the CCC championship for the third time.
Lewis-Clark State College follows at No. 11, while Oregon Tech sits two spots behind the Warriors at No. 13. Southern Oregon University -- which opted out of the 2020 season -- returns to the mix with a No. 18 ranking, while Northwest University rounds out the CCC’s ranked teams at No. 24. Eastern Oregon University is receiving votes in the poll.
2021 NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Preseason
| RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
St. Francis (Ill.) [20] |
560 |
| 2 |
3 |
Taylor (Ind.) |
530 |
| 3 |
2 |
College of Idaho |
523 |
| 4 |
7 |
Milligan (Tenn.) |
512 |
| 5 |
5 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
488 |
| 6 |
8 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
466 |
| 7 |
9 |
Aquinas (Mich.) |
451 |
| 8 |
10 |
Saint Mary (Kan.) |
397 |
| 9 |
11 |
Montreat (N.C.) |
394 |
| 10 |
12 |
Huntington (Ind.) |
391 |
| 11 |
13 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
377 |
| 12 |
4 |
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) |
353 |
| 13 |
15 |
Oregon Tech |
334 |
| 14 |
16 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
319 |
| 15 |
17 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
298 |
| 16 |
23 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
280 |
| 17 |
19 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
270 |
| 18 |
NR |
Southern Oregon |
242 |
| 19 |
18 |
Dalton State (Ga.) |
207 |
| 20 |
22 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
193 |
| 21 |
20 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
191 |
| 22 |
25 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
188 |
| 23 |
6 |
Oklahoma City |
171 |
| 24 |
21 |
Northwest (Wash.) |
163 |
| 25 |
NR |
Baker (Kan.) |
131 |
Receiving Votes: William Woods (Mo.) 102, Morningside (Iowa) 77, Grace (Ind.) 74, Columbia (Mo.) 44, Westmont (Calif.) 40, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 33, Indiana Tech 33, Friends (Kan.) 27, Montana Western 24, Wayland Baptist (Texas), 10, SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 9, Benedictine (Kan.) 8,
Eastern Oregon 7, Shawnee State (Ohio) 6
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.”