2020 NCAA DI Women's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll – Week 5

NEW ORLEANS – We are less than a month out from the rescheduled 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on March 15 at the Oklahoma State Cross Country Course. The action in Stillwater, Oklahoma will be televised on ESPNU and through the ESPN App in a joint effort between the USTFCCCA and ESPN.
The next NCAA Division I Women’s National Coaches’ Poll is scheduled  for March 3. In addition, we will have a special, final regular season poll released on the evening of Friday, March 5, a day in which 11 conference championships are scheduled.
Time to see what has happened since the last National Coaches’ Poll release on February 3.
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Arkansas continues to be No. 1, followed by No. 2 BYU and No. 3 NC State, No. 4 New Mexico and No. 5 Colorado.
New Mexico improved one spot back up to No. 4. The Lobos are set to open their season this Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada before the Mountain West Championships on March 5.
Colorado improved 3 spots from No. 8 for its first top-5 appearance of the season. Last time out, the Buffalos won the Garnet 6k section at the FSU Winter Cross Country Classic, narrowly edging now No. 6 Stanford, 72-77. Rachel McArthur was the top runner for the Buffalos with a fifth place finish in 20:19.9.
Duke, jumping four spots to No. 19, is at its best ranking since 2013. The Blue Devils finished third with 128 points at the FSU Winter Classic behind Colorado and Stanford. Duke’s top finisher was Michaela Reinhart in 19th place, with the next four scoring runners finishing in a tight pack at 25-27-28-29.
The biggest move was made by No. 23 Providence, climbing up seven spots from its Week 4 ranking of No. 30. The Friars first competition of the season is slated for March 5 at the Big East Championships in Cary, North Carolina.
There are five new additions to the top-30 in Week 5: No. 22 Oklahoma State, No. 25 Portland, No. 28 Ole Miss, No. 29 West Virginia and No. 30 San Francisco.