INDIANAPOLIS - A strong start to the season has earned national recognition for Great Midwest Athletic Conference men’s and women’s cross country teams. The United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association has released their Week One rankings and feature conference schools both regionally as well as nationally.
Cedarville’s women’s team has moved up three spots from the USTFCCCA Preseason Poll and now sits ranked ninth nationally. The Yellow Jackets finished last season with an 11th-place finish at the NCAA DII Championships and began this season finishing fourth of seven teams at the Queen City Invitational with the other six teams being Division I schools.
Hillsdale also moved up one spot from their preseason rankings and are now ranked 14th in its first season as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The Chargers will begin their season on Friday at the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State University.
The Malone women’s team also jumped into the Top 25 for the first time this season after receiving votes in the USTFCCA Preseason Poll. They share the 21st spot with University of Mount Olive. Finally, Walsh received votes for the second consecutive week, sitting at 30th unofficially.
On the men’s side, Walsh made the jump into the Top 25 and now sit at 23rd. Walsh received votes in the preseason poll. This comes after the Cavaliers placed first while hosting the Ric Sayre Invitational to open the season.
Hillsdale also received votes with an unofficial ranking of 27th after being ranked 20th nationally in the USTFCCA Preseason Poll.
The USTFCCCA regional rankings were also released on Tuesday and feature four women’s programs and two men’s.
The women’s rankings have the Great Midwest Athletic Conference programs in the same positions as the USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings. Cedarville still sits ranked third in the Midwest Region behind Grand Valley State University and University of Southern Indiana. Hillsdale and Malone follow in fifth and sixth, respectively, and Walsh closes out the conference representation in ninth.
Walsh and Hillsdale flipped spots on the men’s side in the Midwest Region rankings with Walsh now in fifth and Hillsdale right behind them ranked sixth.