By USTFCCCA Communications, USTFCCCA
October 15, 2025  
NEW ORLEANS – The top-3 continued in order for a fourth-straight poll (including the Preseason version) in the Week 3 edition of the 2025 NJCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The 2025 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Saturday, November 8 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
National Coaches’ Polls are presented by AthleticNET.
NJCAA Division I — Women’s Cross Country
This Week’s National Top Five
1
Odessa (Texas)
2
Iowa Western CC
3
New Mexico JC
4
El Paso (Texas) CC
5
Southern Idaho
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Odessa (Texas)
is a unanimous No. 1 for the third poll in a row. The Wranglers were second at
the Thunderbird Open, but that was without their top-2 runners, Milicent Wafula
and Salma Saddoug. Wafula hasn’t been beaten by another NJCAA athlete this
season.
No.
2 Iowa Western CC also features a
runner undefeated among JUCO runners as Juliana Sakat now has been named M-F
Athletic National Athlete of the Week three times this season. Her latest
effort came in winning the Fort Hays State Tiger Open in 16:40.0, a program
best that supplanted the 16:41.8 by two-time NJCAA DI champ Faith Linga.
New Mexico JC
continues at No. 3 despite fielding incomplete teams in its past two meets,
both without the services of Yiddiya Bifa, who has won both the races she’s
started this fall. She’s the top returning individual from last year’s NJCAA DI
Championships, having finished third before transferring from Iowa Central CC.
Moving
up three positions is El Paso (Texas) CC
to No. 4, its highest since Week 2 of 2022. The Tejanas won both the ENMU Ruidoso
Classic and New Mexico JC’s Thunderbird Open, the former with a perfect 15
points. Two different runners have led the way – freshmen Faith Rotich and Tadiwa
Mabvuka, respectively.
Southern Idaho
dropped one notch to No. 5. The Golden Eagles were the top JUCO squad at both
Idaho State’s Bengal Invitational and Utah State’s Steve T. Reeder Memorial
with Laurie Davidson and Edith Neslen, respectively, leading the way. CSI’s 1-5
gap at the Bengal Invitiational was just 11.7 seconds.
Rounding
out the top-10 are No. 6 Ranger (Texas),
No. 7 Crowder (Mo.), No. 8 Hutchinson (Kan.) CC, No. 9 Iowa Central CC and No. 10 Central Arizona.
