2012 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships

DI Final Regular-Season National Poll Holds to OSU, FSU

Nov 13, 2012 by FloTrack Staff

DI Final Regular-Season National Poll Holds to Oklahoma State, Florida State

November 13, 2012

NEW ORLEANS – The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held this Saturday, and, looking at the final regular-season coaches’ poll conducted by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), there’s definitely a lot to be excited about. Oklahoma State’s men and Florida State’s women held on to their No. 1 spot gained prior to last Friday’s NCAA Regional Championships.

In the men’s poll – the No. 1 Cowboys, with nine of 12 first-place votes – are looking to build upon their fifth-straight Midwest region title and capture their third national crown in four years.

Stanford and Iona are tied at the No. 2 spot with the Cardinal taking one FPV. Stanford took the West region for the second-straight year and will look to be atop the NCAA podium for the first time since 2003. Iona was ninth a year ago but was the nation’s runner-up in 2007 and 2008.

No. 4 Wisconsin is the reigning national champion and is extending their national record to 41-straight appearances in the NCAA meet. The Badgers claimed their 14^th-straight Great Lakes region title on Friday.

Texas’ men at No. 5 have reached their all-time high position in the coaches’ poll. They are looking for their third “trophy-finish” (top four) in team history and to possibly improve upon their all-time best finish of third from 1956.

The voting panel had difficulty reaching a consensus with No. 7 Colorado as the Buffaloes claimed two first-place votes but dropped five positions overall in the poll. Colorado took third in the Mountain region behind No. 10 Northern Arizona and No. 8 BYU, but, a couple weeks earlier, won the Pac-12 over now-No. 2 Stanford. The Buffs, winners of three national men’s cross country crowns, last claimed the title in 2006.

More men’s notes:

· Of the 22 schools that have won DI men’s cross country titles, 11 are in the field including all-time leader Arkansas (11).

· Virginia Tech is making their first NCAA showing since 1987.

· Michigan State's men earned an at-large bid to the NCAA XC Championships despite finishing seventh at the Big Ten meet. The Spartans placed fourth in the Great Lakes region.

· The ACC has the most men's team selections for the meet with five. The Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 follow with four.

The No. 1 Seminole women have never won the NCAA cross country title, but have finished as the runner-up in 2009 and 2010. They are coming off their fifth-straight South region title and gained ten of 12 first-place votes in the poll.

Oregon has the No. 2 spot and is looking for their first NCAA cross country crown since 1987. The Ducks are the three-time defending national indoor track & field champions.

No. 3 Iowa State is in the mix coming off their third-straight Midwest region title. The Cyclones finished seventh in last year’s meet and finished as the runner-up in 1985.

Stanford, at No. 4, has the most national titles (5) among teams in the top ten, having last claimed the top podium position in 2007 as part of a three-year sweep.

Defending women’s national champion Georgetown comes in as No. 11 squad. The Hoyas were ranked fourth going into last year’s championship before shocking the field for their first title.

Additional women’s notes:

· Colorado (No. 23) is making their 20^th-straight NCAA showing and is the active leader in the category, followed by Stanford (19), Michigan State (12), and Michigan (11).

· Connecticut (No. 14) is appearing in their first NCAA meet and has reached an all-time best poll ranking. Cornell (No. 16) is showing in the national meet for the first time since 2001 while fellow Ivy rival Harvard is in the big dance for the first time since 1983.

· The Big East and Pac-12 has five women's teams at the NCAA meet, most among conferences. The Big Ten and SEC follow with four apiece.

Louisville will host the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park. The women’s race is slated to begin at Noon, eastern, followed by the men’s at 1:15 p.m., eastern.

A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast on NCAA.com.

USTFCCCA
NCAA Division I
Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll
2012 Week #7 -- November 13, Pre-NCAA Championships
next poll: none, final rankings are NCAA Championship result

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	*Cross Country Coach (Yr)**	Last Week
1	Oklahoma State (9)	354	Midwest	Big 12	Dave Smith (7th)	1
2	Iona	330	Northeast	Metro Atlantic	Ricardo Santos (5th)	4
2	Stanford (1)	330	West	Pac-12	Chris Miltenberg (1st)	3
4	Wisconsin	307	Great Lakes	Big Ten	Mick Byrne (5th)	6
5	Texas	304	South Central	Big 12	John Hayes (6th)	5
6	Oklahoma	300	Midwest	Big 12	Martin Smith (8th)	8
7	Colorado (2)	289	Mountain	Pac-12	Mark Wetmore (18th)	2
8	BYU	259	Mountain	West Coast	Ed Eyestone (13th)	7
9	Portland	241	West	West Coast	Rob Conner (23rd)	9
10	Northern Arizona	232	Mountain	Big Sky	Eric Heins (6th)	18
11	Arkansas	231	South Central	SEC	Chris Bucknam (5th)	10
12	Tulsa	219	Midwest	Conference USA	Steve Gulley (11th)	19
13	Michigan	199	Great Lakes	Big Ten	Alex Gibby (3rd)	12
14	Virginia	173	Southeast	ACC	Peter Watson (1st)	21
14	Syracuse	173	Northeast	Big East	Chris Fox (8th)	14
16	Oregon	169	West	Pac-12	Robert Johnson (1st)	11
17	Eastern Kentucky	162	Southeast	Ohio Valley	Rick Erdmann (34th)	15
18	Florida State	155	South	ACC	Bob Braman (13th)	23
18	Georgetown	155	Mid-Atlantic	Big East	Patrick Henner (14th)	24
20	Columbia	143	Northeast	Ivy	Willy Wood (19th)	22
21	New Mexico	133	Mountain	Mountain West	Joe Franklin (6th)	16
22	UCLA	129	West	Pac-12	Mike Maynard (4th)	27
23	Princeton	120	Mid-Atlantic	Ivy	Jason Vigilante (1st)	13
24	Indiana	103	Great Lakes	Big Ten	Ron Helmer (6th)	20
25	Villanova	102	Mid-Atlantic	Big East	Marcus O'Sullivan (13th)	RV
26	Virginia Tech	77	Southeast	ACC	Ben Thomas (12th)	17
27	Georgia	63	South	SEC	Patrick Cunniff (1st)	26
28	NC State	58	Southeast	ACC	Rollie Geiger (35th)	RV
29	Notre Dame	20	Great Lakes	Big East	Joe Piane (38th)	28
30	Michigan State	19	Great Lakes	Big Ten	Walt Drenth (9th)	NR
Others Receiving Votes: Washington 10, Duke 7, Florida 4, Arizona State 4, Kansas 3, Texas A&M 3, Illinois 1.

Dropped Out: No. 25 Arizona State, No. 29 Texas A&M, No. 29 Kansas
compiled by Don Kopriva
( year as effective coach of that team in men's cross country)*

USTFCCCA
NCAA Division I
Women's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll
2012 Week #7 -- November 13, Pre-NCAA Championships
next poll: none, final rankings are NCAA Championship result

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	*Cross Country Coach (Yr)**	Last Week
1	Florida State (10)	358	South	ACC	Karen Harvey (6th)	1
2	Oregon (1)	344	West	Pac-12	Robert Johnson (1st)	3
3	Iowa State (1)	341	Midwest	Big 12	Corey Ihmels (6th)	2
4	Stanford	319	West	Pac-12	Chris Miltenberg (1st)	5
5	Arizona	315	West	Pac-12	James Li (11th)	4
6	Michigan	297	Great Lakes	Big Ten	Mike McGuire (21st)	6
7	Washington	286	West	Pac-12	Greg Metcalf (11th)	7
8	Providence	267	Northeast	Big East	Ray Treacy (29th)	20
9	Penn State	248	Mid-Atlantic	Big Ten	Beth Alford-Sullivan (14th)	15
10	Duke	246	Southeast	ACC	Kevin Jermyn (9th)	10
11	Georgetown	230	Mid-Atlantic	Big East	Michael Smith (1st)	9
12	Arkansas	225	South Central	SEC	Lance Harter (23rd)	12
13	Michigan State	219	Great Lakes	Big Ten	Walt Drenth (9th)	11
14	Connecticut	212	Northeast	Big East	Andrea Grove-McDonough (4th)	16
15	Weber State	200	Mountain	Big Sky	Paul Pilkington (6th)	13
16	Cornell	166	Northeast	Ivy	Artie Smith (14th)	8
17	New Mexico	160	Mountain	Mountain West	Joe Franklin (6th)	17
18	Notre Dame	142	Great Lakes	Big East	Tim Connelly (25th)	23
19	Texas	131	South Central	Big 12	Steve Sisson (7th)	22
20	William and Mary	127	Southeast	Colonial	Jill Miller (1st)	19
21	Oklahoma State	122	Midwest	Big 12	Dave Smith (4th)	21
22	Villanova	110	Mid-Atlantic	Big East	Gina Procaccio (13th)	25
23	Colorado	91	Mountain	Pac-12	Mark Wetmore (18th)	24
24	Vanderbilt	79	South	SEC	Steve Keith (7th)	RV
25	Minnesota	68	Midwest	Big Ten	Gary Wilson (28th)	28
26	Butler	67	Great Lakes	Atlantic 10	Matt Roe (6th)	RV
27	Toledo	61	Great Lakes	Mid-American	Kevin Hadsell (15th)	18
28	Georgia	35	South	SEC	Patrick Cunniff (1st)	NR
29	Boston College	34	Northeast	ACC	Randy Thomas (21st)	27
30	Florida	31	South	SEC	Mike Holloway (6th)	14
Others Receiving Votes: Harvard 21, San Francisco 10, Princeton 9, West Virginia 6, La Salle 2, NC State 1.

Dropped Out: No. 14 Florida, No. 26 San Francisco, No. 27 Boston College, No. 29 UCLA, No. 30 NC State
compiled by Jesse Rosen
( year as effective coach of that team in women's cross country)*