Milligan Maintains Top Position; Montreat, SCAD Atlanta Also Receive Votes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Three Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) teams received votes in the NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll and a third received votes, the national organization announced on Thursday.
Milligan continues to be ranked No. 1. The Buffaloes collected 16 first-place votes in compiling 586 voting points to earn the top spot.
Montreat is next in line, landing at No. 16 with 286 voting points. Meanwhile, SCAD Atlanta earned 23 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 | 1 | Milligan (Tenn.) [16] | 586 |
| 2 | 2 | The Master's (Calif.) [1] | 565 |
| 3 | 4 | College of Idaho [4] | 556 |
| 4 | 3 | Saint Mary (Kan.) | 526 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma City | 525 |
| 6 | 7 | Spring Arbor (Mich.) | 499 |
| 7 | 6 | Indiana Wesleyan | 466 |
| 8 | 8 | Taylor (Ind.) | 436 |
| 9 | 9 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 421 |
| 10 | 10 | Eastern Oregon | 406 |
| 11 | 12 | Dordt (Iowa) | 405 |
| 12 | 20 | Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | 392 |
| 13 | 11 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 378 |
| 14 | 13 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 353 |
| 15 | 14 | Doane (Neb.) | 340 |
| 16 | 15 | Montreat (N.C.) | 286 |
| 17 | 17 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 283 |
| 18 | 16 | Kansas Wesleyan | 279 |
| 19 | 18 | Saint Francis (Ill.) | 229 |
| 20 | 24 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 228 |
| 21 | 19 | Grace (Ind.) | 226 |
| 22 | 23 | Corban (Ore.) | 155 |
| 23 | 22 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 144 |
| 24 | RV | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 131 |
| 25 | 21 | Carroll (Mont.) | 129 |
Receiving Votes: Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 122, Goshen (Ind.) 104, Concordia (Neb.) 101, Cornerstone (Mich.) 68, Marian (Ind.) 30, SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 23, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 16, Bellevue (Neb.) 11, Cumberland (Tenn.) 7, Benedictine (Kan.) 6, IU East (Ind.) 3, Southern Oregon 2