Three AAC Teams Receive Votes in the NAIA Poll
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The 2025 NAIA Men's Cross Country season begins next week, on Thursday, August 28, and the 2025 NAIA Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Top 25 was announced today.
Three Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) teams received votes, with Milligan leading the way. The Buffaloes are ranked second with 486 voting points.
Montreat is tied for 19th with 177 voting points, and SCAD Atlanta collected eight voting points to land eight spots outside the top 25.
The preseason Top 25 is the first step in a march toward Tallahassee, Fla., where the season culminates with the 70th-Annual NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship at Apalachee Regional Park on Nov. 21.
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1. The Master's (Calif.), 496 points Finished fourth at last season's national championship, in Columbia, Mo., the Mustangs are the top-ranked team in the 2025 preseason out of the Great Southwest Athletic Conference. Led by Jack Anderson, who enters his senior season after a fourth-place finish in last year's championship meet. |
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2. Milligan (Tenn.), 486 points The second-place team at the 2024 championship, Milligan enters 2025 as the top-ranked team in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Will be led by returning All-Americans Winston Telford and Bryson Lewis. |
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3. Taylor (Ind.), 471 points Returns the entire squad after an eighth-place finish in last season's national championship meet, led by 2024 NAIA all-American Luke Harber. Taylor begins 2025 as the top-ranked team in the Crossroads League. |
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4. Cumberlands (Ky.), 465 points The top-ranked team in the Mid-South Conference, lost three All-Americans off of last season's team, returning Ryan Ehrler, Noah Loser, and Jon Eades, who were all NAIA championship qualifiers last season. Coming off of back-to-back MSC titles, and finished third in last year's national championship in Columbia. |
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5. Marian (Ind.), 421 points Up five spots from last season's finish in the NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship, lost just one runner from last season's top seven, led by returning NAIA All-Americans Tristan Trevino and Charlie Leedke. |
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6. Spring Arbor (Mich.), 409 points Led by four all-conference honorees in a rugged Crossroads League, Spring Arbor is the second-ranked team out of the Crossroads league in the 2025 preseason conference rating. Team finished 17th at last season's national championship meet. |
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7. College of Idaho, 382 points The Yotes are the defending NAIA Men's Cross Country national champion, picked second in the Cascade Collegiate Conference in 2025. Lost three All-Americans from last season's national championship team. |
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8. Indiana Wesleyan, 365 points Led by returning All-American Braden Sweet, counting on depth in a tough Crossroads League, where the Wildcats are picked fourth in the 2025 preseason. Ended 2024 with a fifth-place finish in the NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship. |
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9. Corban (Ore.), 363 points The top-ranked team in the Cascade Collegiate Conference preseason rating, the Warriors are led by returning NAIA All-American Jack Gladfelter, who finished eighth in the 2024 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship. |
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10. Saint Mary (Kan.), 338 points The Spires finished sixth in the 2024 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship, and USM enters 2025 as the top-ranked team in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. |
| RANK | INSTITUTION | POINTS |
| 11 | Eastern Oregon | 333 |
| 12 | Carroll (Mont.) | 331 |
| 13 | Indiana-East | 324 |
| 14 | Doane (Neb.) | 307 |
| 15 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 254 |
| 16 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 238 |
| 17 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 230 |
| 18 | Dordt (Iowa) | 219 |
| T-19 | Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | 177 |
| T-19 | Montreat (N.C.) | 177 |
| 21 | Goshen (Ind.) | 113 |
| 22 | Southern Oregon | 112 |
| 23 | Kansas Wesleyan | 110 |
| 24 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 107 |
| 25 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 100 |
Receiving Votes: St. Francis (Ill.) 93, Trinity Western (B.C.) 84, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 68, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 31, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 30, Cornerstone (Mich.) 16, Tennessee Southern 15, Columbia (Mo.) 8, SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 8, Indiana Tech 6, Montana Tech 6, SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 5, Bellevue (Neb.) 2.
Ratings Methodology
- The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and unaffiliated groupings.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater rates the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 for third-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ratings for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) are removed. The team's rating will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes".