Central cracks national cross country rankings

PELLA—Central College’s men’s and women’s cross country teams are both cited in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s preseason Division III national and regional rankings.

The Dutch women debut in 21st in the national rankings and fourth in the Midwest Region while the men are 30th nationally and fifth in the region.

Central’s women finished last season ranked fifth after narrowly missing a berth in the NCAA Division III Championships. The Dutch are the No. 2-ranked team in the American Rivers Conference. Rival Wartburg College, which placed third nationally last fall, is ranked No. 1 both nationally and within the Midwest Region. No other conference schools appear in the national rankings but Simpson College is fifth in the region, Loras College, which finished 18th nationally last year, is sixth in the region and Nebraska Wesleyan University is 10th.

Central returns its entire top seven, led by all-America honoree Caroline McMartin (senior, Pella).

The Central men cracked the national poll after being unranked last year and jumped two spots in the Midwest Region rankings after finishing at No. 7 a year ago. Perennial power North Central College (Ill.) is No. 1 both nationally and in the Midwest Region. Wartburg is the top conference men’s team at No. 6 nationally and No. 2 in the region. Loras College is No. 23 in the U.S. and No. 4 in the region. Within the region, Simpson is at No. 6 and Luther College is No. 9.

The Dutch men also have a veteran squad and return two NCAA national meet qualifiers in all-America honoree Caleb Silver (5th-year, Conrad, BCLUW HS) and Noah Jorgenson (senior, Sidney).

The squads open the 2023 campaign Friday, Sept. 1 with the Central Dutch Invitational on the college cross country course at 6 p.m.