Milligan Women's Cross Country Picked Second in NAIA Preseason Top 25 Rating
MILLIGAN, Tenn. – On Thursday, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) revealed the 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country Preseason Top 25 Rating. The poll listed the Milligan women's cross country team as the No. 2-ranked program in the nation after their fourth-place finish at the NAIA National Championships in 2023.
The Buffs snatched a total of 471 points in the rating. They also earned three of the 18 first-place votes from coaches. 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 are removed. The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and unaffiliated groupings.
The full ratings are listed below:
| RANK | LAST TIME | INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | POINTS |
| 1 | 3 | St. Mary (Kan.) [6] | 479 |
| 2 | 2 | Milligan (Tenn.) [3] | 471 |
| 3 | 5 | The Master's (Calif.) [5] | 468 |
| 4 | 4 | Taylor (Ind.) [2] | 460 |
| 5 | 16 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 434 |
| 6 | 1 | College of Idaho [2] | 419 |
| 7 | 6 | Dordt (Iowa) | 393 |
| 8 | 9 | Montreat (N.C.) | 369 |
| 9 | 13 | Indiana Wesleyan | 362 |
| 10 | 10 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 358 |
| 11 | 7 | Southern Oregon | 353 |
| 12 | 11 | Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | 323 |
| 13 | 12 | Huntington (Ind.) | 289 |
| 14 | 18 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 277 |
| 15 | 19 | SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 271 |
| 16 | 13 | Grace (Ind.) | 263 |
| 17 | 23 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 249 |
| 18 | 25 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 243 |
| 19 | 22 | Montana Tech | 216 |
| 20 | 8 | Concordia (Neb.) | 179 |
| 21 | 21 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 176 |
| 22 | 24 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 152 |
| 23 | RV | Missouri Baptist | 112 |
| 24 | RV | Aquinas (Mich.) | 105 |
| 25 | RV | Mount Mercy (Iowa) | 103 |
Receiving Votes: Carroll (Mont.) 100, Marian (Ind.) 87, Kansas Wesleyan 49, Oklahoma City 48, Doane (Neb.) 37, Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.) 29, Goshen (Ind.) 28, IU East (Ind.) 19, William Carey (Miss.) 15, Hastings (Neb.) 13, Eastern Oregon 6, John Brown (Ark.) 5, Dickinson State (N.D.) 5, Indiana Tech 2, William Woods (Mo.) 2, Oregon Tech 2