2025 NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 4

NEW ORLEANS – Nuttycombe and Pre-Nationals caused some big changes. 

Here is the newest edition of the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The poll is conducted by taking votes from a group of 11 coaches, including one coach from each of Division I’s nine regions and two from the NCAA Cross Country Executive Committee.

No. 1 BYU remains the unanimous favorite – its fifth week in a row as such. The Cougars were already dominant – but with the debut of freshman phenom Jane Hedengren this past weekend at the Pre-National Invitational, where she smashed the Gans Creek course record by 25 seconds, blazing a 18:42 for 6k enroute to the individual title – they look even more poised to repeat as national champions. In addition to Hedengren’s performance, the Provo harriers averaged 19:42, going 1-3-6-7-8 as they scored 25 points, claiming a 145-point victory over second-place No. 14 Villanova. The Cougars defeated five ranked teams in addition to the Wildcats, including No. 23 Missouri, No. 27 Tennessee, No. 30 Boston College, and most importantly No. 3 Florida, who fielded a B team in Columbia. 

No. 2 NC State remains steady with last week’s ranking following a dynamic effort at the Nuttycombe Invitational. The Wolfpack, like BYU, had a powerful performance, winning the stacked meet by 84 points in a field that contained around half of the nation’s ranked teams including No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 6 Iowa State, No. 7 West Virginia, No. 8 Northwestern, and No. 9 New Mexico. Grace Hartman made her season debut and won the individual title ahead of teammate Angelina Napoleon, who also debuted this past weekend. 

No. 5 Notre Dame leaps into the top five for the first time this season. Up from seventh last week – and 16th in the preseason – the Fighting Irish are riding high after placing second at the Nuttycombe Invitational behind No. 2 NC State, but ahead of No. 6 Iowa State, No. 7 West Virginia, No. 8 Northwestern, No. 9 New Mexico, and No. 10 Georgetown, among others. The dynamic duo of Mary Bonner Dalton and Amaya Aramini both ran sub-20 minute times, placing fourth and eighth overall. The rest of Notre Dame’s top five averaged 20:11 and all placed in the top 50.

Two new teams cracked the top ten this week as No. 6 Iowa State and No. 8 Northwestern make double digit jumps.

The Cyclones, unranked and only receiving votes in the preseason poll, moved from 16th last week, rising ten spots following their third place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational. Mercyline Kirwa’s fifth place finish helped to elevate the Midwest’s new top-ranked team as she blazed through the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in 19:44.

The Wildcats started the season as an even bigger underdog, having received no votes in the preseason poll. This Northwestern team is poised to make its first national championship berth since 2022. The Wildcats’ 1-5 spread of 26 seconds from their fifth place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational is one of the best in the nation and they will hope their depth can lead them in November, despite the lack of a true low stick, with Ava Criniti’s 23rd place finish being their best. 

Despite several large jumps towards the top of the rankings, only one new team joined the top 30 this week – Wake Forest at No. 28. The Demon Deacons won the team title at the Arturo Barrios Invitational hosted by Texas A&M.

Mark your calendars for Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1, as that is Conference Championships Weekend, where the nation’s top teams will look to claim their first piece of hardware and cement themselves at the top before Regional Championships Friday. Then, the climactic NCAA DI Cross Country Championships await on Saturday, November 22, in Columbia, Missouri.

Sean Brennan, from Mount Laurel, New Jersey, is a junior at Bucknell University studying Classics and Art History and works as a USTFCCCA Communications Intern. He started writing for his school’s newspaper, the Bucknellian, as a sophomore, covering the cross country and track & field teams, using his experience as a former walk-on to aid his articles. In his free time, Sean enjoys reading Latin and Ancient Greek literature and going on the occasional run when the weather is nice.