North Central (Ill.) Men and Wartburg Women Top DIII Preseason Projections

NEW ORLEANS – The North Central (Ill.) men’s and Wartburg women’s teams, both defending champions from a year ago, emerge as the top teams in the second annual NCAA Division III U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association preseason computer projections, based largely on the top returning student-athletes from teams around the country and performances from the early portion of this season.

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Wartburg, which overwhelmingly won the 2012 DIII championships with a division-record 99 team points after being projected as the preseason No. 1, finds itself atop the rankings for the ninth consecutive edition after it held the spot wire-to-wire in 2012.

Wartburg and second-ranked UW-Oshkosh are set to once again battle for a DIII crown, as the two schools have combined to claim seven of the last nine DIII Indoor Championships, with Wartburg winning last year and also back-to-back in 2009 and 2010; while Oshkosh three-peated from 2004-2006 and claimed another in 2011.

Less than a third (30) of Wartbug’s 99 points from a year ago will return, including 2012 national runners-up junior Camesha Goods (hurdles) and sophomore Alana Enabnit (5,000 meters). The Knights will be without three national champions from 2012.

UW-Oshkosh returns 29 of its 48 points from the 2012 NCAA DIII Indoor Championships, including defending 800 meters and mile champion senior Christy Cazzola.

On the men’s side, three teams earned a score of 130 or higher in the preseason projections: North Central with 138.12, UW-La Crosse with 134.32 and UW-Oshkosh with 133.39. Three other teams scored higher than 100, setting the stage for a competitive and exciting 2013 indoor season.

The men’s preseason ranking is similar to the teams’ finishes at the 2012 NCAA DIII Indoor Championships, where North Central claimed the title with 48 team points, UW-Oshkosh finished third with 32 points, and UW-La Crosse scored 27 for a tie for fifth.

North Central, which was also the preseason favorite last season, returns three of its five individual scorers from 2012, including the top-ranked returning pole vaulter in senior Josh Winder, the 2012 DIII champ. They lose 400 champ Dan Benton, though the other three legs of the school’s national championship 4×400 relay team remain intact.

UW-La Crosse returns all but one scoring student-athlete from the 2012 DIII Indoor Championships, including senior jumper Isaac Vasquez, who is the top-ranked returner nationally from 2012 in the long jump and is ranked second in the triple jump among 2012 returners. Senior Aric Hoeshcen is the top-ranked returning runner in the 400 nationally.

UW-Oshkosh will be back with all but one of its scoring student-athletes from 2012, including senior thrower Pete Delzer, who leads a strong throws corps as the No. 1 returning weight throw athlete in the nation and is third in the shot put among all returners.

The first regular-season edition of the USTFCCCA Rankings will be released January 23. The NCAA Division III Indoor Championships are set for March 8-9 at the Al B. Carius Track in Naperville, Ill.

Here’s a look at how last season’s preseason favorites fared at the NCAA Championships in the DIII computer projection’s inaugural season: