Entering Saturday afternoon’s Inland Empire Championships in the Lewiston orchards, the Lewis-Clark State College men’s cross country team is ranked ninth and the women’s squad is 11th in the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 poll.

The rankings were released Wednesday by the national office and were voted upon by a nationwide panel of coaches.

Both Warrior squads had last week off, and haven’t raced since the Willamette Invitational on Sept. 29, where the men finished third and the women fourth.
For the second week in a row, the Lewis-Clark State men’s team was the only Frontier Conference squad ranked inside the top 25, but Dickinson State received votes.

Southern Oregon held onto a slim five-point lead atop the rankings, barely edging out Cal State-San Marcos. Southern Oregon, which has topped the polls for six straight weeks, received 12 first-place votes and 579 points overall. Cal State-San Marcos earned five first-place votes and the remaining four went to No. 3 St. Francis (Ill.)

Lewis-Clark State received 449 points.

On the women’s side, sixth-ranked Carroll and No. 15 Rocky Mountain joined No. 11 Lewis-Clark State as Frontier Conference representatives in the Top 25.

Cal State-San Marcos held onto the No. 1 spot for the second week in a row, earning 19 of a possible 23 first-place votes and 650 points overall.

British Columbia is second with 624 points, and College of Idaho earned four first-place votes to tie with Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) in third place with 606 points apiece.

Lewis-Clark State will host a field of 10 teams on Saturday afternoon at the Inland Empire Championships, including Washington State and Gonzaga.

The women’s race begins at 10:30 and the men’s race will start at 11:15. Both events will be run on a course in a field behind Ziggy’s Building Supply off Warner Avenue in Lewiston.
 

2012 NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches Top 25 Poll - No. 5

Others receiving votes: Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 114; Baker (Kan.) 100; Lubbock Christian (Texas) 81; Goshen (Ind.) 78; Northwest Christian (Ore.) 43; Emmanuel (Ga.) 27; Friends (Kan.) 21; Vanguard (Calif.) 16; Dickinson State (N.D.) 13; Dordt (Iowa) 12; Berea (Ky.) 9; Indiana Tech 8; Doane (Neb.) 6; Siena Heights (Mich.) 6; Arizona Christian 5; St. Ambrose (Iowa) 4; Saint Xavier (Ill.) 3.

2012 NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 5

Others receiving votes: Eastern Oregon 121; Shawnee State (Ohio) 62; Indiana Wesleyan 59; Baker (Kan.) 47; Saint Xavier (Ill.) 43; Texas Wesleyan 39; Oregon Tech 32; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 18; Xavier (La.) 11; Spring Arbor (Mich.) 11; Rogers State (Okla.) 4; Central Methodist (Mo.) 3; Brenau (Ga.) 3.