2019 NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 4
NEW ORLEANS – There’s a new No. 1 in Week 4 of the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released Tuesday afternoon by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Teams are reaching record-breaking heights after the first week of competition in October and are changing the landscape of the poll as we get deeper into the season.
NCAA Division I — Women's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Arkansas
Arkansas
2
BYU
BYU
3
Colorado
Colorado
4
New Mexico
New Mexico
4
Stanford
Stanford
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
For the first-time in program history, Arkansas is ranked No. 1 after receiving four first-place votes. The Razorbacks are the first program from the SEC to be ranked No. 1 since at least 1995 – which is as far as our data goes back – and the 16th team overall in that span.
Arkansas surged to the No. 1 ranking thanks to a dominating win on their home course at the Chile Pepper Festival this past weekend. The Razorbacks put four runners in the top-5 as Taylor Werner led the charge with a course record of 15:54.40.
One of the biggest moves in recent memory – and the team causing the shakeup among the top teams – comes from No. 6 Utah. The Utes, previously on the outside looking in and receiving votes, achieved the program’s all-time best ranking in the modern era.
The Utes posted the upset of the season with their six-point victory at the Joe Piane Invitational over Colorado, the former No. 1 team in the country until this past weekend. The Buffs dropped two spots to No. 3 and earned three first-place votes.
BYU jumped two spots from No. 4 to No. 2, its best ranking since 2003. The Cougars are still riding high from their commanding win at the Bill Dellinger Invitational two weeks ago where they placed three runners in the top-5.
New Mexico and Stanford are tied at No. 4. The Lady Lobos, receiving three first-place votes, placed seventh at Joe Piane and fell two spots. The Cardinal climbed one spot from Week 3 and last competed at the John McNichols Invitational on September 21.
Other teams that made incremental climbs up the national leaderboard come from Florida State (tied-No. 11) and Minnesota (tied-No. 18).
Competing for the first time since August 30, the Seminoles moved up six spots from No. 17 and now sit in a tie for 11th with Boise State. Florida State achieved the program’s highest ranking since 2014 following its third place finish at the Joe Piane Invitational, where it finished behind Utah and Colorado and knocked off New Mexico, No. 8 Washington (dropped two from No. 6), No. 9 NC State (moved down one from No. 8), No. 13 Wisconsin (fell four from No. 9), and No. 16 Notre Dame (dropped four from No. 12).
Minnesota shot up 11 spots, also from their impressive showing at the Joe Piane Invitational, and defeating No. 17 Ole Miss (dropped three spots from No. 14), No. 26 Boston College (dropped one spot from No. 25), and No. 29 Iowa State (dropped 13 spots from No. 16).
No. 23 Penn is back in the National Coaches’ Poll after a third place finish at the Paul Short Run, while No. 28 Georgetown moved up from receiving votes following their fifth place finish at the same meet.
With a break in the schedule, the next NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll will be released on Tuesday, October 22.
