Top Teams in First Regular-Season Division III National Rankings Remain Steady

NEW ORLEANS –UW-La Crosse’s defending national champion men and Wartburg’s women, the preseason favorites in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III National Team Computer Rankings, remained atop the first regular-season edition of the rankings released Wednesday.

NCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS TOP 5: MEN
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
UW-La Crosse 215.54 pts	UW-Eau Claire 146.52 pts	Mount Union 131.72 pts	UW-Whitewater 111.25 pts	UW-Oshkosh 102.51 pts
View Complete Men’s National Team Computer Rankings

Not only did the top teams in both the men’s and women’s rankings remain the same, but so too did a majority of both genders’ top five teams.

The only switch in the top five came in the men’s rankings where UW-Eau Claire moved from No. 3 up to No. 2, trading spots with Mount Union.

NCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS TOP 5: WOMEN
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Wartburg 172.22 pts	MIT 144.50 pts	UW-La Crosse 107.97 pts	UW-Oshkosh 103.52 pts	Williams 103.52 pts
View Complete Women’s National Team Computer Rankings

This marks the sixth edition of the men’s rankings in a row topped by UW-La Crosse dating back to the 2013 campaign. Wartburg has been atop the women’s list for 13 of the last 18 editions of the poll, including a national title in 2012.

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The national team rankings will be complied by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. For the preseason ranking and early-season rankings, data will be taken from previous seasons as well as the current season.

The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. A full description of the rankings can be found here.

The USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings should not be referred to as a “poll” as no voting occurs during the process.

A significant wild card in these projections are the addition of the 200 meters and 3000 meters as events at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships for the first time. Data from the 2013 used for preseason marks do not include marks made in those two events, but marks from the current 2014 season in those events have been included.

Men’s Rankings

UW-La Crosse remained relatively steady atop the men’s rankings, having checked in with a rankings score of 215.53, up about three points from its preseason total.

Contributing to the Eagles’ increased score was Dominique Neloms, who is ranked No. 2 among Division III student-athletes in 2014 in the long jump and No. 4 in the high jump.

No. 2 UW-Eau Claire improved its preseason score by 14.92 points for a total of 146.52 to move up a spot in the rankings, largely behind Thurgood Dennis’ top-ranked performance at 400 meters.

Displaced by the Blugolds to No. 3 was Mount Union. The Raiders accrued a score of 131.72, down 39.81 points from its preseason mark.

Rounding out the top five were UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh, both of which held approximately steady with 11.25 and 102.51 points, respectively.

No. 6 Haverford nearly joined the top five, jumping up 12 spots after increasing its score by a whopping 56.83 to 102.27 – just .24 behind UW-Oshkosh. The trio of Chris Stadler, Charlie Marquardt and Avi Bregman are currently ranked among the top four at the new 3000 meters championship event.

North Central (Ill.) remained No. 7 (99.60) after a 25.99 point jump. No. 8 Monmouth (Ill.) improved two spots with a score of 76.80, while Central (Iowa) jumped seven spots to No. 9 with a score of 66.26. Bates (64.40) fell a spot to No. 10 to round out the top 10.

A pair of teams jumped 15 spots in the rankings in No. 13 Tufts and No. 21 Heidelberg.

Women’s Rankings

The Knights of Wartburg, like the UW-La Crosse men, remained atop the women’s rankings but lost some ground between itself and the No. 2 team. The defending outdoor national champion’s rankings score dropped about 10 points to 172.22.

Meanwhile at No. 2, MIT dropped just 1.19 points to check in with a team score of 144.50.

No. 3 UW-La Crosse was the highest-ranked team to improve its score from the preseason, albeit a marginal 2.12 points, for a team total of 110.87. A group of 200 meter sprinters, led by No. 8 Jaime Ludwigson, along with No. 5 triple jumper Bria Halama were the driving force behind the increase.

In-state rival No. 4 UW-Oshkosh came in right behind UW-La Crosse, following National Athlete of the Week weight thrower Melanie Brickner to a team score of 107.97. And right behind the Titans were No. 5 Williams and No. 6 UW-Whitewater at 103.52 and 100.04, respectively.

No. 7 St. Thomas (Minn.) (86.87), No. 8 Washington (Mo.) (68.86), No. 9 Emory (68.14), and No. 10 Johns Hopkins (66.33) round out the top 10.

The biggest increase came courtesy of No. 19 Amherst, which improved 19 spots to its best rank since the inception of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2010.

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION III
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #1 — January 29
next ranking: February 5
Rank	School	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	UW-La Crosse	215.54	WIAC	Josh Buchholtz (6th)	1
2	UW-Eau Claire	146.52	WIAC	Chip Schneider (12th)	3
3	Mount Union	131.72	OAC	Kevin Lucas (4th)	2
4	UW-Whitewater	111.25	WIAC	Mike Johnson (5th)	4
5	UW-Oshkosh	102.51	WIAC	Eamon McKenna (2nd)	5
6	Haverford	102.27	Centennial	Tom Donnelly (39th)	18
7	North Central (Ill.)	99.60	CCIW	Frank Gramarosso (4th)	7
8	Monmouth (Ill.)	76.80	Midwest Conference	Roger Haynes (31st)	10
9	Central (Iowa)	66.26	IIAC	Joe Dunham (6th)	16
10	Bates	64.40	NESCAC	Al Fereshetian (19th)	9
11	MIT	57.86	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (24th)	6
12	UW-Stevens Point	55.34	WIAC	Rick Witt (35th)	11
13	Tufts	55.06	NESCAC	Ethan Barron (9th)	28
14	Wartburg	52.69	IIAC	Marcus Newsom (16th)	13
15	Christopher Newport	50.72	CAC	Tyler Wingard (8th)	15
16	Greenville	44.93	SLIAC	Brian Patton (20th)	24
17	Carthage	44.10	CCIW	Brett Witt (9th)	19
18	Buffalo State	43.89	SUNYAC	Eugene Lewis (14th)	17
19	SUNY Cortland	42.10	SUNYAC	Steve Patrick (7th)	8
20	Southern Maine	41.85	Little East	Steve Virgilio (5th)	20
21	Heidelberg	36.61	OAC	Briana Hess (4th)	36
22	Moravian	35.20	Landmark	Jesse Baumann (3rd)	23
23	UW-Platteville	35.03	WIAC	Chris Rotzenberg (2nd)	22
24	St. Thomas (Minn.)	34.94	MIAC	Steve Mathre (19th)	29
25	SUNY Oneonta	34.73	SUNYAC	Angelo Posillico (1st)	26
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

 

Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	WIAC	722.38	6
2	NESCAC	241.31	2
3	OAC	220.86	2
4	CCIW	195.58	2
5	SUNYAC	151.46	3
6	IIAC	150.01	2
7	Centennial	114.52	1
8	MIAC	104.60	1
9	Little East	99.48	1
10	Midwest Conference	87.74	1

 

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION III
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #1 — January 29
next ranking: February 5
Rank	School	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	Wartburg	172.22	IIAC	Marcus Newsom (16th)	1
2	MIT	144.50	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (7th)	2
3	UW-La Crosse	110.87	WIAC	Pat Healy (23rd)	3
4	UW-Oshkosh	107.97	WIAC	Ben Dorsey (2nd)	4
5	Williams	103.52	NESCAC	Nate Hoey (1st)	5
6	UW-Whitewater	100.04	WIAC	Mike Johnson (3rd)	8
7	St. Thomas (Minn.)	86.87	MIAC	Joe Sweeney (34th)	7
8	Washington (Mo.)	68.86	UAA	Jeff Stiles (13th)	9
9	Emory	68.14	UAA	John Curtin (29th)	11
10	Johns Hopkins	66.33	Centennial	Bobby Van Allen (15th)	6
11	Wheaton (Mass.)	65.23	NEWMAC	Dave Cusano (3rd)	10
12	North Central (Ill.)	56.93	CCIW	Kari Kluckhohn (11th)	12
13	Monmouth (Ill.)	53.38	Midwest Conference	Roger Haynes (14th)	13
14	UW-Stout	51.49	WIAC	Kyle Steiner (1st)	14
15	SUNY Cortland	49.63	SUNYAC	Steve Patrick (7th)	15
16	Middlebury	49.15	NESCAC	Martin Beatty (26th)	16
17	Rhode Island College	45.72	Little East	Kevin Jackson (13th)	23
18	St. Lawrence	43.00	Liberty League	Kate Curran (6th)	18
19	Amherst	41.85	NESCAC	Cassie Funke-Harris (2nd)	38
20	St. Scholastica	41.22	UMAC	Kirk Nauman (7th)	21
21	Colby	41.12	NESCAC	Deb Aitken (29th)	34
22	Illinois Wesleyan	37.91	CCIW	Chris Schumacher (17th)	19
23	Tufts	37.68	NESCAC	Kristen Morwick (14th)	29
24	Rowan	37.59	NJAC	Derick “Ringo” Adamson (7th)	17
25	Denison	34.55	NCAC	Mark FitzPatrick (3rd)	22
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

 

Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	WIAC	422.52	4
2	NESCAC	327.04	5
3	NEWMAC	258.49	2
4	IIAC	212.59	1
5	UAA	175.10	2
6	CCIW	134.08	2
7	MIAC	127.90	1
8	SUNYAC	112.17	1
9	Centennial	101.37	1
10	OAC	97.31