Men's Cross Country ranked No. 33 in Week 1 USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll
By Wes Mayberry
| USTFCCCA NCAA Division III National Coaches' Poll - Week 1 |
ADA — The Ohio Northern men's cross country team is ranked No. 33 in the Week 1 USTFCCCA NCAA Division III National Coaches' Poll, which was released on Wednesday.
The Polar Bears, who were not ranked in the preseason poll, received 23 points in the Week 1 poll and are ranked fourth in the Great Lakes Region behind Mount Union, Calvin (Mich.) and John Carroll.
Northern is coming off winning the team title at the NCAC Preview Meet on Saturday, placing first of 11 teams. Three Polar Bears finished inside the top 10 individually as part of five top-20 finishers in the 172-man field.
ONU opened the 2023 season on Sept. 1 by placing third of six teams at the Bluffton Beaver Dam Invite, where two Polar Bears finished inside the top 10 as part of five top-16 finishers in the 110-man field.
North Central (Ill.) is the top team in this week's poll, earning 346 points and six first-place votes.
Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) is second with 344 points and the remaining four first-place votes.
MIT (Mass.), Wisconsin-La Crosse and SUNY Geneseo round out the top five.
The Polar Bears (13-2 overall) return to action on Friday for the All-Ohio Challenge in Cedarville at 6 p.m.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division III National Coaches' Poll — Week 1
Sept. 13, 2023
| Rank | School (First-place votes) | Points | Last Week |
| 1. | North Central (Ill.) (6) | 346 | 1 |
| 2. | Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) (4) | 344 | 2 |
| 3. | MIT (Mass.) | 328 | 4 |
| 4. | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 322 | 5 |
| 5. | SUNY Geneseo | 307 | 3 |
| 6. | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 295 | 7 |
| 7. | Wartburg (Iowa) | 291 | 6 |
| 8. | Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) | 283 | 8 |
| 9. | Williams (Mass.) | 267 | 9 |
| 10. | Johns Hopkins (Md.) | 265 | 10 |
| 11. | RPI (N.Y.) | 250 | 11 |
| 12. | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) | 236 | 14 |
| 13. | St. Olaf (Minn.) | 232 | 13 |
| 14. | Mount Union | 223 | 24 |
| 15. | George Fox (Ore.) | 200 | 16 |
| Lynchburg (Va.) | 200 | 15 | |
| 17. | Calvin (Mich.) | 199 | 12 |
| 18. | John Carroll | 176 | 17 |
| 19. | Haverford (Pa.) | 168 | 18 |
| 20. | Washington (Mo.) | 153 | 19 |
| 21. | Bates (Maine) | 146 | 21 |
| 22. | Calif. Santa Cruz | 143 | 20 |
| 23. | Emory (Ga.) | 131 | 26 |
| 24. | Middlebury (Vt.) | 125 | 22 |
| 25. | Loras (Iowa) | 104 | 23 |
| 26. | Tufts (Mass.) | 98 | 27 |
| 27. | Colorado College | 90 | 25 |
| 28. | Amherst (Mass.) | 82 | 28 |
| 29. | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 63 | 29 |
| 30. | Central (Iowa) | 61 | 30 |
| 31. | SUNY Brockport | 45 | 31 |
| 32. | Bowdoin (Maine) | 32 | 32 |
| 33. | Ohio Northern | 23 | NR |
| 34. | Washington and Lee (Va.) | 21 | 34 |
| 35. | Connecticut College | 20 | 33 |
| La Verne (Calif.) | 20 | 35 |
Others receiving votes: Rowan 6, NYU 4, Saint John's (Minn.) 1.