Men's Cross Country ranked No. 17 in USTFCCCA Preseason Coaches poll
By Caleb Scott
| USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings |
ADA — The Ohio Northern men's cross country team made its debuted in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association preseason coaches poll at No. 17, released on Aug. 30.
The Polar Bears posted their second best finish in school history at the NCAA Championships in 2016 after finishing 14th overall.
Northern returns five letterwinners, all of which are 2016 All-Ohio Athletic Conference honorees.
North Central (Ill.) took the top spot with 280 points and all eight first place votes, while SUNY Geneseo came in second with 272 points and Wis.-La Crosse rounded out the top-3 vote-getters with 263 points.
ONU received 148 points in the poll.
The Polar Bears open the season Friday, Sept. 1 under the guidance of ninth-year head coach Jason Maus as they compete in the annual Bluffton 5k Invitational.
USTFCCCA Preseason Coaches Poll
Aug. 30, 2017
| Rank | School (First Place Votes) | Points |
| 1. | North Central (Ill.) (8) | 280 |
| 2. | SUNY Geneseo | 272 |
| 3. | Wis.-LaCrosse | 263 |
| 4. | Williams (Mass.) | 252 |
| 5. | Wis.-Eau Claire | 232 |
| 6. | MIT | 231 |
| 7. | Johns Hopkins (Md.) | 230 |
| 8. | Christopher Newport (Va.) | 223 |
| 9. | Loras (Iowa) | 217 |
| 10. | Pomona-Pitzer (Cal.) | 206 |
| 11. | Washington (Mo.) | 204 |
| 12. | Amherst (Mass.) | 192 |
| 13. | RPI | 183 |
| 14. | Haverford (Pa.) | 181 |
| 15. | Calvin (Mich.) | 174 |
| 16. | St. Olaf (Minn.) | 169 |
| 17. | Ohio Northern | 148 |
| 18. | Occidental (Cal.) | 139 |
| t19. | Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) | 135 |
| t19. | Middlebury (Vt.) | 135 |
| 21. | Emory (Ga.) | 117 |
| 22. | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Cal.) | 102 |
| 23. | Mount Union | 97 |
| 24. | Washington and Lee (Va.) | 88 |
| 25. | Wis.-Stevens Point | 79 |