Men’s Cross Country Drops To Eighth

For the fourth consecutive week Southern Oregon has earned the top spot in the 2012 NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The Raiders received 21-of-22 first-place votes and tallied 622 points in the third edition to retain the No. 1 spot.

Southern Oregon did not race last weekend but return to action Saturday at the Stanford (Calif.) Invitational in Stanford, Calif.

The rest of the top five remains the same as last week’s edition. No. 2 Cal State San Marcos garnered 598 points. No. 3 St. Francis (Ill.) earned the last first-place vote notched 582 points. No. 4 Oklahoma Baptist collected 558 points and No. 5 British Columbia earned 542 points to round out the top five.

Joining the poll this week is No. 25 Baker (Kan.). The Wildcats, who were idle last weekend, return to action on Saturday when they run in the Rim Rock Farm Classic in Lawrence, Kan.

Three teams, No. 7 Southwestern (Kan.), No. 14 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and No. 19 Concordia (Neb.) were the only teams to climb in the poll this week.

Fourteen conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) with four teams. Representing the GSAC are No. 8 The Master’s (Calif.), No. 17 Westmont (Calif.), No. 20 Arizona Christian and No. 25 Biola (Calif.).

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups. The fourth regular-season Top 25 poll will be announced on Oct. 3.

Lady Mustangs Land At No. 14

For the second straight week, British Columbia tops the 2012 NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The Thunderbirds were idle last weekend. They tallied 21-of-22 first-place votes and 622 points. British Columbia returns to action this weekend as it runs in the Willamette (Ore.) Invitational.

No. 2 through 5 remain the same from last week’s edition. Cal State San Marcos comes in at No. 2 garnering 598 points. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) received the last first-place vote and collected 580 points for the No. 3 ranking. No. 4 College of Idaho earned 567 points, while No. 5 Biola (Calif.) notched 542 points to round out the top five.

After falling out of the poll last week, Indiana Wesleyan returns this week in the No. 25 position. The Wildcats did not race last weekend and run in the Griak Invitational Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn.

Rocky Mountain (Mont.) made the biggest jump in the poll moving from No. 19 to No. 15. Last week, the Battlin’ Bears placed fifth in the Erik Anderson/Red Lion Challenge (Wash.). College of Idaho, No. 6 Carroll (Mont.) and No. 11 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) finished first, second and third, respectively.

Eleven conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by the Golden State Athletic Conference with four ranked teams, followed by the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, Cascade Collegiate Conference, Frontier Conference and Crossroads League with three teams each.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups. The fourth regular-season Top 25 poll will be announced on Oct. 3.

Notes: (All information dates back to 1999) Cal State San Marcos joins former member Simon Fraser (B.C.) as the only teams to start the season ranked No. 1 and go on to win the national championship … Simon Fraser accomplished this in 2004, 05, 06 and 07 and Cal State San Marcos accomplished this in 2011 … There have been four seasons in which a squad held the No. 1-ranking for an entire season: 2007 – Simon Fraser, 2006 – Simon Fraser, 2005 – Simon Fraser and 2003 – Northwest (Wash.) … No. 9 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) is the only school that has made 100 or more consecutive appearances in the Top 25 with 108, dating back to Sept. 21, 2001… Former NAIA Member Simon Fraser (B.C.) has the most No. 1 rankings with 40…. British Columbia earned their first No. 1 ranking this week… 14 teams held their place in this week’s poll.