Milligan, Montreat Occupy Top-5 Spots; SCAD Atlanta Moves Up to No. 21
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Three Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) teams occupy spots in the NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national organization announced on Thursday.
Milligan slipped to No. 2 despite picking up three first-place votes and 536 voting points.
Meanwhile, Montreat climbed to No. 5 as it received 479 voting points.
SCAD Atlanta moved up to No. 21 after collecting 187 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] | POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Taylor (Ind.) [14] | 555 |
| 2 | 1 | Milligan (Tenn.) [3] | 536 |
| 3 | 3 | Saint Mary (Kan.) [3] | 532 |
| 4 | 4 | The Master's (Calif.) | 508 |
| 5 | 8 | Montreat (S.C.) | 479 |
| 6 | 5 | College of Idaho | 475 |
| 7 | 6 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 449 |
| 8 | 7 | Dordt (Iowa) | 431 |
| 9 | 10 | Grace (Ind.) | 414 |
| 10 | 9 | Southern Oregon | 403 |
| 11 | 11 | Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | 369 |
| 12 | 12 | SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 352 |
| 13 | 13 | Indiana Wesleyan | 351 |
| 14 | 22 | Marian (Ind.) | 326 |
| 15 | 17 | Kansas Wesleyan | 309 |
| 16 | 14 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 304 |
| 17 | 20 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 261 |
| 18 | 15 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho.) | 247 |
| 19 | 16 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 239 |
| 20 | RV | Benedictine (Kan.) | 202 |
| 21 | 24 | SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) | 187 |
| 22 | 19 | Mount Mercy (Iowa) | 157 |
| 23 | RV | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 154 |
| 24 | RV | Montana Tech | 141 |
| 25 | 25 | Oklahoma City | 116 |
Receiving Votes: Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 94, Evangel (Mo.) 75, Goshen (Ind.) 75, Eastern Oregon 68, Ave Maria (Fla.) 34, Doane (Neb.) 32, Carroll (Mont.) 31, Aquinas (Mich.) 17, St. Mary (Neb.) 7, St. Francis (Ind.) 4, Dakota State (N.D.) 4