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New Mexico No Longer Unanimous in Coaches’ Poll - USTFCCCAPublished by
By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA November 16, 2015 NEW ORLEANS – The dust has nearly settled on the 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country season. This coming Saturday will mark the final day of the season as 31 teams will vie for the national championship in Louisville, Kentucky. National PDFs: Top 30 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All Time According to the most recent National Coaches’ Poll, released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), New Mexico is still the clear-cut favorite to win the championship, but is no longer unanimous. The Lobos can thank No. 2 Colorado for that. Last Friday, the Buffaloes beat New Mexico by one point for the Mountain Region title and took two first-place votes from Joe Franklin’s team a few days later. This marks the first time since the Week 3 poll that the Lobos shared first-place votes. Elsewhere in the poll, dominant or surprising efforts at regional championships were rewarded – such was the case when it came to No. 4 Providence, No. 8 Boise State and No. 11 Oklahoma State. The Friars, led by a second-place finish by Sarah Collins, ran away with the Northeast Region crown. Providence scored 49 points compared to runner-up Syracuse’s 92 and appears to be a solid contender to podium in five days. And thanks to another win by standout freshman Allie Ostrander and a strong team effort behind her, the Broncos nearly authored another shocking upset – this time at the expense of No. 5 Oregon. Boise State romped to a team title at the Roy Griak Invitational earlier this season and would have added more hardware to its trophy case last Friday if the Ducks’ depth didn’t prevail. The Cowgirls, ranked No. 30 in the preseason, continued their late-season surge. Fresh off a historic win at the Big 12 Championships, Oklahoma State made quick work of the field in Lawrence, Kansas for the Midwest Region crown. Three Cowgirls finished in the top-10 and Oklahoma State scored 51 points to runner-up Iowa State’s 98. While the rest of the poll more or less remained the same other than an eight-spot jump by Vanderbilt, there were two new additions to the back end – Tulsa (tied for 27th) and San Francisco (No. 29). Both the Golden Hurricane and the Dons earned at-large berths to NCAAs following strong races at their respective regional meets. This is the first time since 2010 that Tulsa is ranked and San Francisco’s first appearance in the poll since 2013. All but one team in the final poll of the season will contend for the NCAA title at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park this Saturday. No. 30 North Carolina was left out of the mix after it finished third in a cutthroat Southeast Region.
Read the full article at: www.ustfccca.org
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