Sept. 23, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Malone College (Ohio) earned 18 of the 19 first place votes and edged Black Hills State (S.D.) by 17 points for the top spot in the NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. 

Black Hills State remained at No. 2 for the third straight week with one first place vote and 512 points.  Embry-Riddle (Fla.) moved up a spot to No. 3 with 480 points while Simon Fraser (B.C.) dropped to No. 4 with 450 points.  Concordia (Neb.) jumped up two spots from last week into the top-five with 426 points. 

Aquinas (Mich.) and Azusa Pacific (Calif.) both tied at No. 6 with 425 points each.  No. 8 California State-San Marcos (409 points), No. 9 Concordia (Ore.) (388 points) and No. 10 Southern Oregon (362 points) rounded out the top-10.

The fourth regular season top 25 poll will be released on Tuesday, Sept. 30th.

2008 NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Sept. 23

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL	1ST PLACE VOTES	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Malone (Ohio)	18	529
2	2	Black Hills State (S.D.)	1	512
3	4	Embry-Riddle (Fla.)		480
4	3	Simon Fraser (B.C.)		450
5	7	Concordia (Neb.)		426
T6	8	Aquinas (Mich.)		425
T6	5	Azusa Pacific (Calif.)		425
8	5	California State-San Marcos		409
9	13	Concordia (Ore.)		388
10	RV	Southern Oregon		362
11	9	Dickinson State (N.D.)		356
12	15	Indiana Institute of Technology		350
13	11	Huntington (Ind.)		321
14	12	Vanguard (Calif.)		318
15	13	Cedarville (Ohio)		311
16	18	Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)		285
17	RV	Lindenwood (Mo.)		269
18	10	Doane (Neb.)		235
19	16	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)		218
20	19	Oklahoma Baptist		195
21	17	College of Idaho (Idaho)		157
22	21	Shorter (Ga.)		154
23	RV	Taylor (Ind.)		136
24	RV	British Columbia		120
25	22	Southwestern (Kan.)		85

Others Receiving Votes: Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 80; Shawnee State (Ohio) 74; Marian (Ind.) 70; Fresno Pacific (Calif.) 68; Eastern Oregon 53; Northwood (Texas) 34; Hastings (Neb.) 30; Indiana Wesleyan 26; Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) 18; Dakota State (S.D.) 12; Union (Tenn.) 6; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 4; Lee (Tenn.) 4; Houghton (N.Y.) 3; South Carolina-Beaufort 3; Great Falls (Mont.) 1; Central Methodist (Mo.) 1; Westmont (Calif.) 1; Sioux Falls (S.D.) 1; Cornerstone (Mich.) 1.