Milligan Remains No. 1 in the NAIA; Montreat Lands in Top 15
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Two Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) teams reign in the top 15 of the NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national organization announced on Thursday.
Milligan sits No. 1. The Buffaloes collected 19 first-place votes in compiling 569 voting points to earn the top spot.
Montreat is next in line, landing at No. 12 with 366 voting points.
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
• Each conference is represented by one rater.
• 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 rating) 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 appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."
| RANK | LAST TIME | INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Milligan (Tenn.) [19] | 569 |
| 2 | 6 | The Master's (Calif.) [2] | 532 |
| 3 | 2 | Saint Mary (Kan.) | 530 |
| 4 | 5 | College of Idaho | 512 |
| 5 | 3 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 507 |
| 6 | 8 | Taylor (Ind.) | 486 |
| 7 | 4 | Indiana Wesleyan | 450 |
| 8 | 7 | Eastern Oregon | 426 |
| 9 | 9 | Dordt (Iowa) | 414 |
| 10 | 11 | Oklahoma City | 373 |
| 11 | 25 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 372 |
| 12 | 10 | Montreat (N.C.) | 366 |
| 13 | 13 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 349 |
| 14 | 12 | Doane (Neb.) | 336 |
| 15 | 14 | Kansas Wesleyan | 303 |
| 16 | 16 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 256 |
| 17 | 18 | Spring Arbor (Mich.) | 242 |
| 18 | 17 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 231 |
| 19 | 19 | Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | 216 |
| 20 | 15 | Carroll (Mont.) | 207 |
| 21 | RV | Grace (Ind.) | 196 |
| 22 | RV | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 169 |
| 23 | 22 | Corban (Ore.) | 154 |
| 24 | 20 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 140 |
| 25 | RV | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 99 |
Receiving Votes: Goshen (Ind.) 76, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 71, Cornerstone (Mich.) 59, Concordia (Neb.) 49, UC Merced (Calif.) 43, Marian (Ind.) 28, IU East (Ind.) 22, Northwest (Wash.) 9, Southern Oregon 6, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 2, Cumberland (Tenn.) 2