2021 NJCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 3
After setting at #6 last week the, Lady T-Birds move back into the Top 5 ranked #4 in this week's poll. The Lady T-Birds will be back in action on Saturday, October 16th as they will host the NMJC Invitational II at Harry McAdams Park in Hobbs. The Women's 5K Race will start at 10:00 AM MST.
NEW ORLEANS – Everything got tighter at the top of Week 3 NJCAA Division I Women's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Coaches remained in agreement of the top-3 programs, with College of Southern Idaho continuing in the No. 1 spot it has occupied all season. But the Golden Eagles were one of just four teams to earn first-place votes this week as the poll as its tightest top-5 of the year.
All of this will be settled on the course as the 2021 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships are set for Saturday, November 13 at Pole Green Park in Richmond, Virginia.
College of Southern Idaho is showing no signs of cooling off, continuing with four first-place votes after winning the Ken Garland Classic with five scorers in the top-9. The Golden Eagles tightened their already-impressive spread of its five scorers to a season best of 29 seconds. Natalya Babcock led the way for CSI with the individual victory by 10 seconds.
Iowa Western CC maintains the No. 2 position by the slimmest of margins. The Reivers were one of four teams to earn a first-place vote after finishing as the top JUCO program at the Chile Pepper Festival. Mercy Biwott was the top JUCO individual for the second time in two races.
No. 3 Iowa Central CC is just one point out of being No. 2. The Tritons were the leading JUCO team in the Dan Huston Invitational as freshman Chloe Garcia Grafing continues as the squad's lead runner, finishing ninth individually.
New Mexico JC is at No. 4 and earning two first-place votes. The T-Birds dominated the South Plains Invitational, placing its top-5 as the first five JUCO runners. Freshman Daisy Jerop led the way for NMJC with a runner-up finish
No. 5 Central Arizona also earned a first-place vote. The Vaqueras won the Arizona CC Conference Championships as all of five scorers were in the top-9. Ariz Duarte was runner-up invididually.
Rounding out the top-10 are No. 6 Cloud County (Kan.) CC, No. 7 Dodge City (Kan.) CC, No. 8 El Paso (Texas) CC, No. 9 Trinidad State (Colo.) JC and No. 10 Ranger (Texas). Ranger and Cloud County finished 1-2 in last year's NJCAA Division I Championships.