The George Fox Bruins are once again the team to beat in Northwest Conference men’s cross country, earning the top spot in the 2026 NWC preseason coaches’ poll. The Bruins collected eight first-place votes and 64 points to lead the nine-team field.
George Fox enters the season as the reigning NWC champion after capturing its seventh consecutive conference title in 2025. The Bruins will look to continue their impressive run of success as they return to the course for the 2026 season.
Whitworth received the remaining first-place vote and sits second in the preseason poll with 57 points. The Pirates finished second at last year’s NWC Championships and will look to challenge the Bruins for the conference crown once again.
Willamette earned 48 points to rank third, followed by Lewis & Clark with 44 points. Whitman rounds out the top five with 34 points.
Puget Sound follows in sixth with 30 points, while Pacific earned 22 points to take seventh. Pacific Lutheran is eighth with 16 points, and Linfield rounds out the poll with nine points.
The 2026 season will culminate at the Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships on October 31 at Oak Knoll Golf Course in Salem, Oregon, with all nine NWC teams competing for the conference championship.
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
George Fox (8) |
64 |
| 2 |
Whitworth (1) |
57 |
| 3 |
Willamette |
48 |
| 4 |
Lewis & Clark |
44 |
| 5 |
Whitman |
34 |
| 6 |
Puget Sound |
30 |
| 7 |
Pacific |
22 |
| 8 |
Pacific Lutheran |
16 |
| 9 |
Linfield |
9 |
Points awarded on an 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote for their own teams; numbers in parentheses indicate first-place votes.