NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Cal State San Marcos held its No. 1 ranking in the first edition of the 2012 NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The Cougars received all 21 first-place votes for 591 points to earn the No. 1 spot. This is the third consecutive poll the Cougars have held the No. 1 ranking dating back to the 2011 final poll.
British Columbia collected 572 points which earned the Thunderbirds the No. 2 ranking. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) tallied 549 points to earn the No. 3 position. College of Idaho comes in at No. 4 with tallied 530 points. Rounding out the top 5 are Carroll (Mont.) and Biola (Calif.) as they both collected 505 points.
Joining the Top 25 are five teams that were not ranked in the preseason poll: No. 10 Concordia (Calif.), No. 18 St. Francis (Ill.), No. 22 Taylor (Ind.), No. 23 Illinois Tech and No. 24 Cumberlands (Ky.).
Five programs, Spring Arbor (Mich.) (No. 14), Trinity Christian (Ill.) (No. 19), Shawnee State (Ohio) (No. 22), Saint Xavier (Ill.) (No. 24) and Northwest (Wash.) (No. 25) fell out of the poll this week.
Eleven conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) with four ranked teams. Representing the GSAC are Biola, Concordia, No. 13 Westmont (Calif.) and No. 16 The Master's (Calif.). Concordia made the biggest jump in the polls from receiving votes to No. 10.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups.
Notes: (All information dates back to 1999) Cal State San Marcos joins 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 ... 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. 8 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) is the only school that has made 100 or more consecutive appearances in the Top 25 with 112, dating back to Sept. 21, 2001 ... With this No. 1 ranking, Cal State San Marcos is tied for sixth with seven total No. 1 rankings... Former NAIA Member Simon Fraser (B.C.) has the most No. 1 rankings with 40... This is the third consecutive poll Cal State San Marcos has been ranked No. 1.
2012 NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 1
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Cal State San Marcos (21) | 591 |
| 2 | 2 | British Columbia | 572 |
| 3 | 3 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 549 |
| 4 | 4 | College of Idaho | 530 |
| 5 | 6 | Carroll (Mont.) | 505 |
| 5 | 7 | Biola (Calif.) | 505 |
| 7 | 5 | Northwest Christian (Ore.) | 471 |
| 8 | 8 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 436 |
| 9 | 10 | Concordia (Neb.) | 427 |
| 10 | RV | Concordia (Calif.) | 399 |
| 11 | 11 | Milligan (Tenn.) | 385 |
| 12 | 13 | Southern Oregon | 367 |
| 13 | 9 | Westmont (Calif.) | 352 |
| 14 | 17 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 347 |
| 15 | 15 | Dordt (Iowa) | 325 |
| 16 | 12 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 292 |
| 17 | 20 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 269 |
| 18 | RV | St. Francis (Ill.) | 267 |
| 19 | 16 | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | 264 |
| 20 | 21 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 262 |
| 21 | 23 | Huntington (Ind.) | 255 |
| 22 | RV | Taylor (Ind.) | 210 |
| 23 | RV | Illinois Tech | 123 |
| 24 | RV | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 113 |
| 25 | 18 | Indiana Wesleyan | 106 |
Others receiving votes: Northwest (Wash.) 103; Oklahoma Baptist 96; Doane (Neb.) 81; Saint Xavier (Ill.) 78; Spring Arbor (Mich.) 43; Central Methodist (Mo.) 34; Shawnee State (Ohio) 29; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 23; Eastern Oregon 10; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 10; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 5; Lee (Tenn.) 4; Xavier (La.) 4; Baker (Kan.) 3.
