Milligan Women's Cross Country Tabbed No. 2 in Fourth NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Rating
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On Thursday, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) unveiled the fourth Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Rating of the 2024 season. Milligan University was ranked No. 2 in the nation, dropping after sitting atop the list in the two previous polls. 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.
Milligan earned 536 points and three first-place votes in the poll after a race at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge where several key figures stepped up to help the squad earn another event title in a 21-team field. The Taylor University Trojans usurped the Buffaloes in the poll with 555 points and 14 first-place tallies.
The full rating is below:
| RANK | LAST TIME | INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Taylor (Ind.) [14] | 555 |
| 2 | 1 | Milligan (Tenn.) [3] | 536 |
| 3 | 3 | Saint Mary (Kan.) [3] | 532 |
| 4 | 4 | The Master's (Calif.) | 508 |
| 5 | 8 | Montreat (N.C.) | 479 |
| 6 | 5 | College of Idaho | 475 |
| 7 | 6 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 449 |
| 8 | 7 | Dordt (Iowa) | 431 |
| 9 | 10 | Grace (Ind.) | 414 |
| 10 | 9 | Southern Oregon | 403 |
| 11 | 11 | Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | 369 |
| 12 | 12 | SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 352 |
| 13 | 13 | Indiana Wesleyan | 351 |
| 14 | 22 | Marian (Ind.) | 326 |
| 15 | 17 | Kansas Wesleyan | 309 |
| 16 | 14 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 304 |
| 17 | 20 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 261 |
| 18 | 15 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho.) | 247 |
| 19 | 16 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 239 |
| 20 | RV | Benedictine (Kan.) | 202 |
| 21 | 24 | SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) | 187 |
| 22 | 19 | Mount Mercy (Iowa) | 157 |
| 23 | RV | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 154 |
| 24 | RV | Montana Tech | 141 |
| 25 | 25 | Oklahoma City | 116 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Marian (Ind.), SCAD Atlanta (Ga.), Oklahoma City
Receiving Votes: Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 94, Evangel (Mo.) 75, Goshen (Ind.) 75, Eastern Oregon 68, Ave Maria (Fla.) 34, Doane (Neb.) 32, Carroll (Mont.) 31, Aquinas (Mich.) 17, St. Mary (Neb.) 7, St. Francis (Ind.) 4, Dakota State (N.D.) 4