Southern Oregon Moves to No. 1 in NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll

Oct. 28, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Southern Oregon University has moved to No. 1 in the NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25, the NAIA announced Wednesday. The Raiders snap Malone University's (Ohio) 29-straight week occupancy as the top-ranked team after earning nine first-place votes for 580 points. Behind Southern Oregon is No. 2 Malone and Aquinas College (Mich.) at No. 3. Concordia University (Neb.) and University of British Columbia held steady at No. 4 and 5, respectively.

Malone earned 12 first-place votes and tallied 576 points, four behind Southern Oregon, to rank second. The Pioneers had previously been ranked No. 1 for 29 consecutive weeks dating back to Aug. 22, 2007.

Aquinas moves up to No. 3 after spending last week at No. 6. The jump follows a first-place finish out of 21 teams at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 24. The Saints were previously ranked as high as No. 2 in the first four polls of the 2009 season.

Not only was there a shakeup among the top-three spots, but 15 other teams changed position in the seventh edition of the national poll. Wayland Baptist (Texas) was the week's biggest mover, going from No. 25 to 15. The Pioneers finished second with 126 points, just one point shy of the team title, at the NAIA Mid-States Classic on Oct. 24. Also gaining ground in the poll was Bryan (Tenn.), improving eight spots to No. 8 and Simon Fraser (B.C.) climbing seven spots to No. 10.

All of this week's movement was not positive, with previously third-ranked Embry-Riddle (Fla.) falling back nine spots to No. 12 and McKendree (Ill.) slipping from No. 11 to 19. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) and Westmont (Calif.) each fell back seven places, to No. 16 and 24, respectively.

No. 14 Shorter (Ga.), No. 17 Cedarville (Ohio) and No. 22 California Baptist replace Vanguard (Calif.), Doane (Neb.) and Cornerstone (Mich.), all of which dropped out of the ranks this week.

Four conferences, American Mideast Conference, Association of Independent Institutions, Cascade Collegiate Conference and Sooner Athletic Conference, are represented by three nationally ranked teams.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. The next poll will be released on Nov. 4.

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL (1^ST PLACE VOTES)	TOTAL POINTS
1	2	Southern Oregon University (9)	580
2	1	Malone University (Ohio) (12)	576
3	6	Aquinas College (Mich.)	541
4	4	Concordia University (Neb.)	528
5	5	University of British Columbia	521
6	6	Shawnee State University (Ohio)	501
7	8	California State University-San Marcos	464
8	16	Bryan College (Tenn.)	441
9	10	Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho)	433
10	17	Simon Fraser University (B.C.)	380
11	12	College of Idaho	379
12	3	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.)	350
13	13	Black Hills State University (S.D.)	349
14	NR	Shorter College (Ga.)	333
15	25	Wayland Baptist University (Texas)	323
16	9	Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.)	290
17	RV	Cedarville University (Ohio)	289
18	15	Oklahoma Baptist University	253
19	11	McKendree University (Ill.)	251
20	19	Dakota State University (S.D.)	249
21	22	Eastern Oregon University	247
22	RV	California Baptist University	223
23	20	Oklahoma Christian University	189
24	17	Westmont College (Calif.)	150
25	21	Lindenwood University (Mo.)	124

Others receiving votes: Siena Heights University (Mich.) 93; Concordia University (Ore.) 66; Vanguard University (Calif.) 62; Doane College (Neb.) 57; Lee University (Tenn.) 56; University of Rio Grande (Ohio) 42; Cornerstone University (Mich.) 40; Taylor University (Ind.) 21; Kansas Wesleyan University 12; Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) 11; University of Great Falls (Mont.) 3; Dordt College (Iowa) 1; William Woods University (Mo.) 1; Spring Arbor University (Mich.) 1; Marian University (Ind.) 1; The Master's College (Calif.) 1; Northwood University (Texas) 1.