KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Montana Tech's women's cross country team continued to reap the benefit of its first-ever Frontier Conference title this week, jumping up a spot to No. 23 in the final NAIA top 25 ratings of the 2024 season. The NAIA office announced the rankings along with its full national championship field, which includes the Orediggers, Monday evening.

Tech was ranked 24th in the previous national poll, which is voted upon by a panel of head coaches. In the time since, the Orediggers dominated the Frontier Conference championship meet last Wednesday in Billings, finishing first, second, fourth, and fifth on their way to the first title in the program's five-year history.

Alyssa Plant won the 6-kilometer race, and Kamryn Comba, Alyssa Jany, and Emily See joined Plant on the all-conference list.

Montana Tech was the only Frontier women's team included in the rankings and in the national-championship field, though Carroll and Rocky Mountain both received votes. Both institutions saw individual qualifiers for the meet.

The Orediggers will race for the national title Friday, Nov. 22 at 10:30 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (11:30 a.m. Central) on the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo.

2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Rating - November 11, 2024

RANK	INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]	POINTS
1	Taylor (Ind.)	529
2	Milligan (Tenn.)	501
3	Saint Mary (Kan.)	498
4	The Master's (Calif.)	483
5	Montreat (N.C.)	465
6	College of Idaho	441
7	Cumberlands (Ky.)	427
8	Dordt (Iowa)	408
9	Grace (Ind.)	397
10	SCAD Savannah (Ga.)	373
11	Indiana Wesleyan	354
12	Marian (Ind.)	331
13	Kansas Wesleyan	308
14	Cornerstone (Mich.)	306
15	Southern Oregon	297
16	Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)	292
17	Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)	261
18	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	240
19	Mount Mercy (Iowa)	210
20	St. Francis (Ill.)	192
21	SCAD Atlanta (Ga.)	190
22	Benedictine (Kan.)	183
23	Montana Tech	158
24	Aquinas (Mich.)	114
25	Goshen (Ind.)	94

Dropped from the Top 25: Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Oklahoma City 

Receiving Votes: Oklahoma City 92, Eastern Oregon 87, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 75, Carroll (Mont.) 53, Evangel (Mo.) 32, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 29, Ave Maria (Fla) 12, St. Mary (Neb.) 7, UC Merced (Calif.) 4

Rating 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) that the team appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes".

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