KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Indiana Wesleyan jumped two spots from the preseason rating to land in the top spot in the first NAIA Men’s Cross Country Top 25 of the regular season. The Wildcats received 11 of the 21, first place votes. Milligan (Tenn.) dropped one spot to No. 2 while The Master’s (Calif.) moved up one to No. 3. Saint Mary (Kan.) moved up three slots to No. 4 while Dordt (Iowa) rounded-out the top five. Cumberlands (Ky.) made the largest positive movement, up 11 spots to No. 10. All totaled, three newcomers made their debut in the 2023 rating as UC Merced (Calif.), Kansas Wesleyan and Montana Tech grabbed the final three spots.

Rating Methodology:

• The Top 25 was voted upon 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 voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low ratings) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click HERE.

Dropped from Top 25: Doane (Iowa), Benedictine (Kan.), Cornerstone (Mich.)

Others Receiving Votes: Northwest (Wash.) 87, Doane (Neb.) 74, Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 58, Benedictine (Kan.) 57, Campbellsville (Ky.) 47, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 37, Cornerstone (Mich.) 37, Texas Wesleyan 35, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 34, Corban (Ore.) 24, Concordia (Neb.) 21, Marian (Ind.) 11, Southeastern (Fla.) 7, John Brown (Ark.) 6, Trinity Christian (Ill.) 4, Indiana East (Ind.) 3