Nov. 14, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - While the top three teams held their ground following Saturday's regional championships, several teams made sizable jumps in the final Division III men's cross country poll of the season.

Calvin, NYU and Wisconsin-La Crosse held the top three spots in the rankings released today by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Calvin, the defending national champion, swept the eight first-place votes and is the favorite heading into the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 17 in Northfield, Minn.

With senior standout Jed Christiansen winning the individual title, top-ranked Calvin won Saturday's Great Lakes Regional with 27 points. Second-ranked NYU defeated No. 4 SUNY Cortland to win the Atlantic Regional, and third-ranked Wisconsin-La Crosse won the Midwest Regional.

Central Region champion Nebraska Wesleyan moved up seven spots from the Oct. 31 poll to ninth in this week's rankings. Amherst's one-point win at the New England Regional, where the Lord Jeffs beat runner-up Williams 117-118, was good for a nine spot improvement to No. 12.

Other regional winners were fifth-ranked Haverford (Midwest), seventh-ranked Willamette (West) and No. 31 Rhodes (South/Southeast).

The top two teams in each of Saturday's eight regional meets automatically qualified for nationals. Sixteen additional at-large teams were added to the field on Monday.

Additionally, the first seven individuals from each region who were not a part of a qualifying team were selected to participate in the NCAA Division III Championships.

Calvin won last year's NCAA men's championship with 37 points. NYU was second with 92 points. Calvin has won three of the last four NCAA titles (2003, '04 and '06). Wisconsin-La Crosse won the 2005 national title.

The Division III men's and women's cross country rankings are determined by a committee of coaches representing the eight different regions.

Amherst is ranked No. 1 in the Division III women's poll.

USTFCCCA Division III men's cross country poll
Nov. 14, 2007
(first place votes in parenthesis)

Team	Points	Previous
1. Calvin (8)	280	1
2. NYU	272	2
3. Wisconsin-La Crosse	260	3
4. Cortland St.	254	6
5. Haverford	253	4
6. Wisconsin-Stevens Point	240	9
7. Willamette	231	5
8. North Central	221	7
9. Nebraska Wesleyan	215	16
10. Ohio Northern	203	11
11. Allegheny	202	12
12. Amherst	194	21
13. Williams	184	13
14. Luther	170	26
15. Wisconsin-Platteville	161	10
16. Augustana (Ill.)	161	17
17. St. John's (MN)	151	8
18. Carnegie Mellon	139	18
19. Occidental	136	NR
20. TCNJ	125	30
21. Colorado College	122	19-tie
22. Anderson	108	NR
23. Carleton	105	22
24. Geneseo St.	104	14
25. Tufts	86	NR
26. Heidlberg	79	23
27. Wartburg	70	NR
28. Dickinson	69	27
29. Trinity (Conn.)	60	31
30. Bowdoin	48	32-tie
31. Rhodes	47	NR
32. Emory	42	32-tie
33. Wheaton (Ill.)	18	15
34. St. Lawrence	9	19-tie
35. Mount Union	8	24

Also receiving votes: UT-Tyler 6 and MIT 1.