The Lady Bulldogs moved back into the ratings in the fifth regular-season NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll the national office announced on Wednesday. Tennessee Wesleyan ended up at the 25th spot after a 6th place finish at the NAIA Preview hosted by Queens of Charlotte. The sixth regular-season poll will be released on Oct. 21.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
• Northwest Christian is No. 1 after receiving all 19 first-place votes for a total of 529 points. This is the third time this season the Beacons are No. 1. This is the first time in school history Northwest Christian is No. 1 in back-to-back weeks.
• There are two newcomers to the Top 25 – No. 23 Saint Xavier (Ill.) and No. 25 Tennessee Wesleyan.
• This is the first Top 25 ranking for Saint Xavier since the 2012 preseason poll conducted on Aug. 22.
• Trinity Christian (Ill.) (formerly No. 24) and Cornerstone (formerly No. 25) were the only two teams to drop out of the Top 25.
• Doane (Neb.) highlighted the positive movement as they moved up three spots from No. 22 to No. 19.
• British Columbia had the biggest drop in the poll as it fell four spots from No. 3 to No. 7.
• Former NAIA-member Simon Fraser (B.C.) has the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 40.
• No. 13 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) makes its 140th-consecutive appearance in the Top 25, the longest active streak in the NAIA, dating back to Sept. 21, 2001.
• Twelve of the 21 conferences are represented in the Top 25.
• The Cascade Collegiate Conference leads all leagues with four teams represented in the Top 25 – Northwest Christian, No. 6 College of Idaho, No. 17 Southern Oregon and No. 21 Oregon Tech.
• The Golden State Athletic Conference, Frontier Conference, Great Plains Athletic Conference, and the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference each have three teams represented.
• There is only three teams to go the entire season ranked No. 1 – British Columbia (2013), Simon Fraser (2005, 2006 and 2007) and Northwest (Wash.) (2003).
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low ratings) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes"
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2015 Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll – No. 4 (Oct. 7)
RANK | LAST | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | FINAL POINTS |
1 | 1 | Northwest Christian (Ore.) (19) | 529 |
2 | 2 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 512 |
3 | 4 | Biola (Calif.) | 490 |
4 | 5 | Taylor (Ind.) | 476 |
5 | 6 | Carroll (Mont.) | 451 |
6 | 7 | College of Idaho | 441 |
7 | 3 | British Columbia | 417 |
8 | 8 | The Master's (Calif.) | 412 |
9 | 9 | Dordt (Iowa) | 396 |
10 | 11 | Indiana Wesleyan | 388 |
11 | 10 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 367 |
12 | 14 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 337 |
13 | 12 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 325 |
14 | 13 | Westmont (Calif.) | 318 |
15 | 16 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 273 |
16 | 17 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 269 |
17 | 15 | Southern Oregon | 251 |
18 | 18 | Oklahoma City | 225 |
19 | 22 | Doane (Neb.) | 222 |
20 | 19 | Milligan (Tenn.) | 208 |
21 | 18 | Oregon Tech | 204 |
22 | 20 | Concordia (Neb.) | 183 |
23 | NR | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 132 |
24 | 23 | Siena Heights (Mich.) | 123 |
25 | RV | Tennessee Wesleyan | 119 |
| | | |
Dropped from the Top 25: Trinity Christian (Ill.); Cornerstone (Mich.)
Others receiving votes: Texas Wesleyan 87; Morningside (Iowa) 74; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 62; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 50; Marian (Ind.) 45; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 31; Southeastern (Fla.) 22; Hastings (Neb.) 10; Cornerstone (Mich.) 6.