New Mexico & Virginia Women, Columbia Men Take Control in DI Regional Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – Largely influenced by the results at Friday’s Notre Dame Invitational, three new teams have emerged on top of their respective regions in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I Regional Rankings released Monday.

REGIONAL PDFs: Regional Summary | Week-by-Week
Division I XC Rankings Central

The Columbia men (No. 30 nationally last week) upset a slew of nationally ranked teams — including No. 7 Tulsa and Ivy League rival No. 9 Princeton — to win the team crown Notre Dame and jump to first in the Northeast Region, while the New Mexico women (No. 15) nearly took down No. 2 Florida State in the ND women’s race to take over the top spot in the Mountain Region.

Rounding out the changers at the top were the Virginia’s women, who — despite an idle weekend — took control of the Southeast Region after the Duke women, not running at full strength, finished 10th at Notre Dame. The Blue Devils, ranked No. 4 nationally last week, dropped two spots to No. 3 in the region, despite Julie Bottorff taking the individual title.

For Columbia, the team title at Notre Dame came over Tulsa, Princeton and five other top-30 squads — al of which were ranked ahead of the Lions. With 113 points, Columbia edged out defending meet champions Tulsa, 113 to 124.

Four of the Lions’ top five came through in the top 24 and the top three finished within a second of one another in 12th, 13th and 14th, leading the squad to what Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Willy Wood labeled, "Probably the greatest win in the history of our program."

The Lions moved up three spots displaced No. 10 Syracuse to the region’s second spot, while Iona fell two spots to No. 4.

New Mexico’s women, who were for the most part making their season debut, turned in a similarly strong team performance, trailing meet champion Florida State by just five points in the final score, 77-82. The Lobos put three runners in the top 11, led by junior Samantha Silva in third place, and six runners within the meet’s top 35.

With the Lobos moving into the Mountain Region’s top spot, former No. 1 Colorado was displaced to No. 2.

The Duke women’s tumble to No. 3 in the Southeast Region could manifest itself in Tuesday’s National Coaches Poll, in which the Blue Devils were ranked No. 4 last week. Not only did Virginia claim Duke’s spot atop the region, the Blue Devils were also passed up by William & Mary.

In other significant moves around the nation:

• The Washington women (No. 7 nationally) took out defending national champion Oregon (No. 5) at the Ducks’ home Bill Dellinger Invitational to move into the second spot in the west region behind Arizona (No. 3).
• At the same meet, Boise State’s men, which received votes nationally last week, improved three spots to No. 3 in the West Region after nearly defeating No. 4 Oregon in a runner-up performance. The Ducks remain No. 1 in the region.
• The Dartmouth women, led to a runner-up team finish at Paul Short by senior standout Abbey D’Agostino’s individual win at Paul Short, jumped five spots to No. 2 in the Northeast Region behind Providence (No. 1 nationally).
• Princeton’s women (No. 30 nationally) took fifth at Notre Dame and moved up two spots to No. 2 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, jumping ahead of Villanova (No. 12) and Penn State (No. 13), which fell three spots to fifth in the region.

USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning team strength with current-season results in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.

Regional Championships will be held Friday, November 15. More details can be found at Regional Championships Central.