Tuesday, March 1, 2016

DII National Rankings Shuffle Post-Conference Championships

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY WOMEN MOVES TO #1 IN RANKINGS
NEW ORLEANS With the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field regular season in the books, a pair of recent national team champions are favored in the latest National Team Computer Rankings announced Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The defending national indoor champion Adams State men and 2014 national outdoor champion Lincoln (Mo.) women are atop the penultimate edition of the rankings, which aim to predict how teams will fare at the NCAA Championships on March 11-12 in Pittsburg, Kansas.

These rankings take into account the entirety of the regular season, regardless of athletes’ intended events at the NCAA Championships. Next Monday’s pre-Championships rankings will consider only the entries into the NCAA Championships.

Behind ASU (206.66 points) in the men’s rankings were No. 2 Tiffin (176.60) and GLIAC Champion No. 3 Grand Valley State (171.88) – which swapped spots from a week ago – and the stationary duo of CIAA Champion No. 4 Saint Augustine’s (155.43) and No. 5 Texas A&M-Kingsville (106.60).

MIAA Champion Lincoln (Mo.) (176.29 points) returned to the top spot, followed by MIAA rival No. 2 Pittsburg State (147.85). Last week’s chart-topper, Hillsdale (139.68), dropped two spots to No. 3 – a fall mirrored by GLIAC Champion No. 4 Grand Valley State (123.54). GLVC Champ Lewis (104.52) fell one spot to No. 5 to round out the top five.

The ASU men may have only finished third at the RMAC Championships, but the Grizzlies are projected to do much better at a meet like the NCAA Championships. While Adams State proved to be a less complete team this past weekend than winner No. 7 Colorado Mines or runner-up No. 20 Chadron State, no team in the country is as top-heavy as the Grizzlies.

ASU boasts a nation-best seven performers ranked top-three nationally, three more than the four each from No. 3 Grand Valley State and No. 6 Academy of Art. The Grizzlies are tied for the most top-10 ranked performers with 13, a total equaled by No. 3 GVSU.

Tiffin moved up to No. 2 behind sprinter Lamar Hargrove, who is now No. 1 in the nation both at 60 and 200 meters, and is positioning himself for a run at a third-consecutive sweep of the national 60-meter and 200-meter crowns.

The MIAA Champion Lincoln (Mo.) women will hope to top MIAA runner-up No. 2 Pittsburg State again next weekend, again on the Gorilla’s home track. The Blue Tigers took down PSU, 169-147, this past weekend for the league title.

As it currently stands, the Blue Tigers have a narrow advantage over Pitt State in terms of total top-10 ranked athletes, 10-9 – though No. 4 GVSU tops both squads with 12 – but Lincoln has the edge in top-three performers. Seven Blue Tigers are ranked No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 in their respective events, to Pittsburg State’s four.

No. 3 Hillsdale is next behind Lincoln on that list with five, followed by PSU, No. 6 Johnson C. Smith, and RMAC Champion No. 7 New Mexico Highlands.

No top-25 team for either gender moved up farther than did the Northeast-10 Champion No. 16 American International men, who climbed up 22 spots from last time.

The biggest gainer for the women was NSIC Champion No. 13 Minnesota State, which improved eight spots from the previous week.

2016 Week #6 — March 1

next ranking: MONDAY, March 7 (pre-championships)
RankInstitutionPointsConferenceHead Coach (Yr)Last Week
1Adams State206.66RMACRock Light (3rd)1
2Tiffin176.60GLIACJeremy Croy (16th)3
3Grand Valley State171.88GLIACJerry Baltes (17th)2
4Saint Augustine’s155.43CIAAGeorge Williams (40th)4
5Texas A&M-Kingsville106.60Lone StarRyan Dall (8th)5
6Academy of Art102.74PacWestKevin LaSure (1st)6
7Colorado Mines94.68RMACMatt Sparks (3rd)7
8Lincoln (Mo.)84.91MIAAVictor Thomas (15th)NR
9Minnesota State83.03NSICJim Dilling (3rd)8
10Pittsburg State76.22MIAARuss Jewett (28th)14
11Western State72.29RMACChris Bradford (7th)9
12Azusa Pacific62.60PacWestKevin Reid (21st)10
13Ashland61.92GLIACJud Logan (13th)11
14Lewis55.09GLVCDana Schwarting (11th)23
15Missouri Southern50.56MIAABryan Schiding (3rd)16
16American International49.23Northeast-10Leo Mayo (10th)38
17Central Missouri48.98MIAAKirk Pedersen (20th)/Kip Janvrin (18th)18
18Alaska Anchorage48.60GNACMichael Friess (26th)12
19Texas A&M-Commerce48.29Lone StarRoss Smithey (1st)13
20Chadron State47.89RMACBrad Gamble (2nd)20
21Findlay46.19GLIACMarc Arce (28th)27
22West Texas A&M41.15Lone StarDarren Flowers (7th)15
23Southern Connecticut38.82Northeast-10John Wallin (6th)19
24Shorter38.77Gulf SouthScott Byrd (9th)17
25Saginaw Valley State38.67GLIACRod Cowan (7th)22
Dropped out: No. 21 MSU Moorhead, No. 24 Johnson C. Smith, No. 25 Black Hills State

2016 Week #6 — March 1

next ranking: MONDAY, March 7 (pre-championships)
RankInstitutionPointsConferenceHead Coach (Yr)Last Week
1Lincoln (Mo.)176.29MIAAVictor Thomas (15th)NR
2Pittsburg State147.85MIAARuss Jewett (30th)3
3Hillsdale139.68GLIACAndrew Towne (5th)1
4Grand Valley State123.54GLIACJerry Baltes (17th)2
5Lewis104.52GLVCDana Schwarting (11th)4
6Johnson C. Smith101.75CIAALennox Graham (9th)6
7New Mexico Highlands100.56RMACBob DeVries (24th)7
8Alaska Anchorage93.82GNACMichael Friess (26th)5
9Minnesota Duluth91.58NSICJoanna Warmington (5th)8
10Central Missouri70.56MIAAKirk Pedersen (20th)/Kip Janvrin (18th)12
11Ashland70.36GLIACJud Logan (13th)11
12Saint Augustine’s68.99CIAAGeorge Williams (40th)9
13Minnesota State63.51NSICJen Blue (16th)21
14Shorter57.17Gulf SouthScott Byrd (9th)10
15Merrimack52.34Northeast-10Jacky Mendes (2nd)14
16Findlay49.78GLIACMarc Arce (28th)18
17U-Mary47.32NSICMike Thorson (22nd)15
18Missouri Southern42.71MIAAPatty Vavra (22nd)23
19Winona State42.21NSICMason Rebarchek (12th)17
20Southern Connecticut42.19Northeast-10Melissa Stoll (4th)20
21Seattle Pacific39.11GNACKarl Lerum (11th)13
22Adams State38.22RMACRock Light (3rd)22
23Angelo State34.93Lone StarJames Reid (17th)19
24Chadron State33.72RMACBrad Gamble (2nd)27
25Texas A&M-Kingsville33.43Lone StarRyan Dall (8th)16
Dropped out: No. 24 Cedarville, No. 25 Azusa Pacific

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COURTESY Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA

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