NEW ORLEANS — Someone check the temperature, because this season is heating up.
In the past couple of weeks since the last National Coaches’ Poll, we’ve had meets from Tallahassee, Florida, to Columbia, Missouri, and everywhere in between. That meet in CoMo was the biggest of the bunch, as multitudes of ranked teams got a preview of the course that will host the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 22.
Without further ado, here is the newest edition of the NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday. USTFCCCA polls and rankings are presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division I — Men’s Cross Country
This Week’s National Top Five
1
Iowa State
2
Oklahoma State
3
New Mexico
4
Virginia
5
Colorado
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Iowa State picked up right where it left off, dominating a field on its way to victory. The Cyclones ran roughshod over the competition at the Gans Creek Classic, scoring just 47 points and beating No. 4 Virginia by 60 points. Iowa State’s top-three men – who finished second, sixth, and seventh, respectively – were all within 20 seconds of each other.
Oklahoma State hosted the Cowboy Jamboree and welcomed New Mexico to the Greiner Family Cross Country Course. The now second-ranked Cowboys defended home turf and beat the now third-ranked Lobos by five points, 36-41. It was as close as it sounds, as it was 12-14 in favor of New Mexico through three runners, but Oklahoma State swung the result thanks to its fourth and fifth finishers. The Cowboys went 1-6-7-8-14 with individual champion Denis Kipngetich leading the charge. The Lobos finished 3-4-5 with those athletes separated by just 4.2 seconds.
Virginia showed up to play spoiler in Columbia, Missouri – and crash the party it did. The Cavaliers, who improved two spots from No. 6 to No. 4, put all of their top-five scorers in the top 35, led by senior Gary Martin in ninth place (Martin traversed the 8k course in 22:51.1). Justin Wachtel also provided UVA with a spark, taking 12th place, just 3.4 seconds behind Martin. This is the Cavaliers’ best ranking since at least 2005, which is as far back as our complete poll data goes.
Colorado took advantage of its opportunity at Gans Creek and placed third in a loaded field. The Buffaloes, who rumbled eight spots from No. 13 to No. 8, were a clear third behind Iowa State and Virginia, putting a 67-point gap between themselves and fourth-place Alabama. Colorado received a big boost from the back half of its scoring five, as James Overberg, Dean Casey, and Lukas Haug finished within 12 seconds of each other in 30th, 35th and 41st place, respectively. This is the first time the Buffs have been ranked in the top five since 2022.
Seven teams improved two or more spots since the last poll, not including the Cavaliers or Buffs: No. 8 Alabama, No. 13 Butler, No. 16 North Carolina, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 18 Tulane, No. 19 Arkansas, and No. 28 Georgetown. Missouri starred on its home course this past weekend and joins the National Coaches’ Poll for the first time since 2012 at No. 20.
