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Michigan State Women Move Up in a Quiet Division I XC National Coaches Poll - USTFCCCAPublished by
Michigan State Women Move Up in a Quiet Division I XC National Coaches PollBy Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA September 16, 2014 NEW ORLEANS – All is still mostly quiet in the first regular-season edition of the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches Poll released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
With three weekends of largely low-impact, rust-busting competition having gone by and another low-key weekend left before the stakes are raised with the first day of countable meets for NCAA Championships on September 26, few teams moved more than a spot or two from their preseason positions. All top five men’s teams held steady, as did four of the top five women’s team. The one new women’s team? Apparently Michigan State‘s women didn’t get the memo to take it easy until September ends. National Poll PDFs: Week 1 Top 30 Summary | Week-by-Week 2014 | Week-by-Week All Time The Spartans moved up three positions to No. 3 – just two spots away from top-ranked bitter rival Michigan – and earned a first-place vote after two strong showings by their top women at the Oregon Bill Dellinger Invitational and their own Auto Owners Spartan Invitational. National Athlete of the Week Rachele Schulist and reigning steeplechase champion Leah O’Connor each earned wins in those respective meets. Now up to their highest rank since week five of the 2002 season (also its highest rank in the USTFCCCA archives dating back to 1995), the Spartans took down a conservative No. 2 Oregon squad in its debut and the two-time reigning Division II champion Grand Valley State women this past weekend. Rival Michigan stayed at No. 1 with eight first-place votes – up two from the preseason – with just a home time trial under its belt, while Oregon remained No. 2 with two first-place votes. Following Michigan State was No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 Georgetown, both of which also held steady. Preseason No. 3 Florida State traded spots with Michigan State to fall to No. 6, its lowest rank since week three of the 2011 season. Colorado and Arkansas – still with a first-place vote – traded spots to end up at Nos. 7 and 8, respectively, while Iowa State and Virginia rounded out the top 10. Defending men’s national champion Colorado remained the unanimous No. 1 team with all 12 first-place votes. The Buffaloes performed well at their home time trial and sent a small group of runners to Colorado State, but have yet to fully open up their top squad. With both having hosted home invitationals, Northern Arizona stayed steady at No. 2 and Oregon – which debuted defending individual national champ Edward Cheserek in a win – held firm at No. 3. Oklahoma State and Stanford rounded out the top five. A pair of teams swapped spots in the bottom half of the top 10, with No. 6 Portland/No. 7 Indiana and No. 9 Villanova/No. 10 BYU trading spots from the preseason. Sandwiched in between was No. 8 Syracuse. Only two new teams joined the poll this week: the Boise State women at No. 19 and the Columbia men at No. 30. The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held November 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.
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