Milligan, Montreat Occupy Top 10 Spots; 3 AAC Teams Receive Votes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Two Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) teams reign in the top 10 of the NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll with another receiving votes, the national organization announced on Thursday.
Milligan sits No. 1. The Buffaloes collected seven of the 21 first-place votes in compiling 573 voting points to earn the top spot.
Montreat is next in line, landing at No. 10 with 435 voting points. Meanwhile, SCAD Atlanta picked up 16 points to fall 12 spots outside the top 25.
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 YEAR | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | FINAL POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Milligan (Tenn.) [7] | 573 |
| 2 | 3 | Dordt (Iowa) [7] | 561 |
| 3 | 4 | Indiana Wesleyan [5] | 553 |
| 4 | 2 | The Master's (Calif.) [1] | 550 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma City [1] | 515 |
| 6 | 10 | College of Idaho | 483 |
| 7 | 9 | Saint Mary (Kan.) | 470 |
| 8 | 11 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 467 |
| 9 | 13 | Eastern Oregon | 439 |
| 10 | 7 | Montreat (N.C.) | 435 |
| 11 | 14 | Taylor (Ind.) | 397 |
| 12 | 6 | Southern Oregon | 387 |
| 13 | RV | Goshen (Ind.) | 341 |
| 14 | 20 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 339 |
| 15 | 19 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 297 |
| 16 | 17 | Grace (Ind.) | 295 |
| 17 | 18 | Oregon Tech | 263 |
| 17 | 21 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 263 |
| 19 | RV | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 242 |
| 20 | 23 | Carroll (Mont.) | 184 |
| 21 | NR | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 165 |
| 22 | 12 | Huntington (Ind.) | 160 |
| 23 | RV | Benedictine (Kan.) | 154 |
| 24 | 15 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 140 |
| 25 | NR | Doane (Neb.) | 119 |
Others Receiving Votes: Texas Wesleyan 110, Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 84, Southeastern (Fla.) 68, Northwest (Wash.)65, Montana Tech 51, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 46, Campbellsville (Ky.) 27, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 22, William Carey (Miss.) 20, IU East (Ind.) 18, Kansas Wesleyan 18, SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 16, John Brown (Ark.) 14, Arizona Christian 12, Grand View (Iowa) 10, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 9, Missouri Baptist 8.