This week, the CCIW conducted their annual coaches’ poll to predict the outcome of the 2021 CCIW Cross Country Championships. The IWU women’s team is slated to take home silver against nine schools, while the men’s is predicted to rank seventh.
This year’s competition will feature runners from Illinois Wesleyan, Augustana, Carroll, Carthage, Elmhurst, Millikin, North Central, North Park and Wheaton according to the CCIW website.
The poll asks various competing men’s and women’s coaches to rank the eight teams they compete against from first to last finishers. The coaches are not given the option to vote for their own teams.
After their rankings have been submitted, each place is given points inversely proportional to their placement (For example, eight points for first place, seven points for second, etc.).
The points are tallied and the average determines the predicted ranking for each team.
For 2021, the Illinois Wesleyan women’s team was awarded 56 points and three first-place votes, putting them in a predicted second place behind Elmhurst with 58.
The Titans are led by seniors Lexie Dorsey and Rebekah Harden, as well as senior Jenna Mirande. Dorsey finished 12th place at their most recent race at the Bradley Pink Invite, clocking in at 23:15.3. Mirande took 52nd of 205 with a time of 24:08.2.
The Titans also boast a two-time CCIW Cross Country Runner of the Week, which Harden received for the second time in her collegiate career. The most recent honor followed her October 1 performance in the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational.
North Central and Wheaton tied for a possible third place finish with 50 points and Carroll closed out the Top-Five women’s teams with 34.
The men’s team is predicted to fall into seventh place with 20 points, ahead of Elmhurst (17) and North Park (8).
North Central’s 46 points took home the gold in the men’s rankings. If the predictions prove correct, this season would mark the Cardinals’ 47th consecutive cross country championship title and 54th total win.
Junior Noah Smith ran home from the Bradley Pink Invitational leading the Titans with a 48th-place time of 26:44.8.
The 2021 CCIW Championship will take place on October 30 in Warrenville, Ill. The men’s teams will start at 12:00PM, followed by the women’s shortly after at 12:45.
Following the championship, the Titans will next move to the NCAA DIII Regional Championship on Saturday, November 3.
