BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Cumberlands (Ky.) is No. 4 in the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, NAIA officials announced on Thursday.

The Patriots are the lone Mid-South Conference team in the national poll. Cumberlands received 436 voting points from the national raters.

Cumberlands won its fifth straight Mid-South Conference championship last season. At the NAIA National Championships, the Patriots finished a program-best sixth place.

Cumberlands begins its season on Friday, Aug. 29, at the Berea (Ky.)-Centre (Ky.) Jamboree in Berea, Ky.

Taylor (Ind.) begins the season at No. 1 in the preseason poll with 507 voting points. Milligan (Tenn.) is No. 2 with 488 voting points, followed by The Master's (Calif.) at No. 3 with 475 voting points.

The first regular-season poll is scheduled to be released on Thursday, Sept. 25.

 

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) on which the team appears.

-        Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”.