Chase for No. 1 in Division I National Team Rankings is Heating Up

NEW ORLEANS – Four-time defending NCAA Division I women’s indoor champion Oregon and defending men’s champion Arkansas remained atop the second regular-season edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday, but both are beginning to come back to the pack.

Men’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Arkansas 218.59 pts	Florida 184.31 pts	Oregon 170.81 pts	Texas A&M 117.88 pts	Wisconsin 112.92 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

The decisive favorite in the preseason with a 53-point margin over No. 2 Florida in terms of team rankings score, Arkansas’ (218.59) advantage over the Gators (184.31) has shrunk to less than 35 points with No. 3 Oregon (170.81) also within 50 points.

Despite finishing only third at the Arkansas Razorback Team Invitational, the Florida men’s rankings score improved more than 10 points from a week ago thanks largely to a pair of 800-meter runners in sophomore No. 2 Ryan Schnulle and first-year man No. 6 Andres Arroyo.

Oregon’s distance medley relay teams were the only Ducks in action this past weekend, but its squad – featuring defending outdoor 1500 meters champ Mac Fleet, 800-meters preseason No. 2 Boru Guyota, Jack Galpin, and first-year cross country champ/The Bowerman Watch List member Edward Cheserek – posted the second-fastest time of the season to boost Oregon’s team score by 15 points.

Led by National Athlete of the Week Deon Lendore, Texas A&M (117.88) moved up a spot to No. 4, displacing Wisconsin (112.92) to No. 5.

No. 6 Florida State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Arizona and No. 9 Nebraska all remained stationary, joined in the top 10 by new addition Alabama. The Crimson Tide jumped seven positions from a week ago behind seventh-ranked 60-meter sprinter Diondre Batson and eighth-ranked weight thrower Charodd Richardson.

Meanwhile on the women’s side Oregon (176.23) retained the top spot it seized last week, though the inactive Ducks lost some of their advantage over preseason favorite No. 2 Texas (161.17) and No. 3 Texas A&M (151.97).

Women’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Oregon 176.23 pts	Texas 161.17 pts	Texas A&M 151.97 pts	Florida 140.93 pts	Georgia 124.31 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

No. 4 Florida (140.93) was the only team in the top five to improve upon its rankings team score, albeit a slim 0.22 increase. Georgia (124.31) remained steady at No. 5 to round out the top five.

A win at its home Razorback Team Invitational over No. 3 Texas A&M boosted Arkansas (117.16) up one spot to No. 6, largely due to third-ranked Regine Williams at 200 meters, the mile duo of No. 2 Grace Heymsfield and No. 3 Dominique Scott, and No. 8 pentathlete Alex Gochenour.

Behind the fourth-fastest indoor distance medley relay team in collegiate history – anchored by Justine Fedronic, who is No. 2 nationally at 800 meters – Stanford’s women (97.23) jumped two spots to No. 7.

No. 8 Kentucky fell two spots form a week ago to make room for Arkansas and Stanford, while No. 9 LSU checked in one spot lower than last week.

Rounding out the top-10 was UCLA, which improved 24 positions from a week ago. Led by top-ranked long jumper Kylie Price and 3000-meter runner Kelsey Smith, and No. 7 weight thrower Ida Storm, the Bruins improved their team rankings score by more than 35 points for their first appearance in the top-10 since the USTFCCCA rankings began in 2008.

Other big gainers this week included the No. 20 Penn State women, up 27 positions from a week ago, and a 20-position increase for the No. 19 Notre Dame men.

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.