Men's Cross Country ranked No. 33 in USTFCCCA preseason coaches poll
By Tim Glon
| USTFCCCA poll |
ADA – The Ohio Northern men's cross country team is ranked No. 33 in the preseason United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III poll on Wednesday.
The Polar Bears received 35 points in the voting after being unranked in the final 2015 poll.
ONU was ranked as high as No. 19 last season, in which they won the OAC Championships title and finished with a 138-9 record.
North Central (Ill.) in the top spot with 275 points and five first place votes, Geneseo State (N.Y.) is second with 270 points and the two first place votes and Williams (Mass.) is third with 268 points and the final first place vote.
Ohio Northern will open its 2016 season on Friday at the Bluffton 6k under eighth-year head coach Jason Maus.
USTFCCCA Division III Poll - Preseason
Sept. 1, 2016
| Total | 2015 | ||
| Rank | School (1st Place Votes) | Points | Final |
| 1. | North Central (Ill.) (5) |
275 | 5 |
| 2. | Geneseo State (N.Y.) | 270 | 3 |
| 3. | Williams (Mass.) | 268 | 2 |
| 4. | Wisconsin-Eau Claire (5) | 254 | 1 |
| 5. | Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) | 237 | 6 |
| 6. | St. Olaf (Minn.) | 236 | 4 |
| 7. |
MIT | 235 | 19 |
| 8. | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) | 224 | 7 |
| 9. |
Wisconsin-LaCrosse | 220 | 9 |
| 10. | Amherst (Mass.) | 204 | 10 |
| 11. | Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) | 193 | 18 |
| 12. |
Loras (Iowa) | 190 | 14 |
| 13. | Wabash (Ind.) | 186 | 8 |
| 14. |
St. Lawrence (N.Y.) | 176 | 15 |
| 15. | Wisconsin-Platteville | 175 | 27 |
| 16. | Haverford (Conn.) | 164 | 12 |
| 17. |
Tufts (Conn.) | 165 | 17 |
| 18. | Chicago (Ill.) | 139 | 31 |
| 19. | Allegheny (Pa.) | 136 | 26 |
| 20. | Johns Hopkins (Md.) | 122 | NR |
| 21. | Middlebury (Vt.) | 115 | 24 |
| 22. | Calvin (Mich.) | 115 | 23 |
| 23. | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 108 | 13 |
| 24. | RPI (N.Y.) | 95 | NR |
| 25. |
Central (Iowa) | 66 | 25 |
| 26. | Wisconsin-Stevens Point |
64 | NR |
| 27. | Colby (Maine) |
60 | NR |
| 28. | Christopher Newport (Va.) |
56 | 32 |
| 29. | New York U. | 54 | NR |
| 30. | Widener (Pa.) | 53 | NR |
| 31. | Willamette (Ore.) | 42 | 28 |
| 32. | Emory (Ga.) |
36 | 29 |
| 33. |
Ohio Northern | 35 | NR |
| 34. | Washington (Mo.) | 19 | 16 |
| 35. |
Hamilton (N.Y.) | 11 | 21 |
| Dickenson (Pa.) | 11 | NR | |
| Bates (Maine) | 11 | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Gustavus Adolphus 7, Augustana (Ill.) 6, Washington and Lee 5, Messiah 4, Occidental 3, Wartburg 3, DeSales 3.