Defending NAIA Men’s Indoor Champs Move to No. 2 in the National Team Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – Last season’s NAIA national indoor and outdoor champions are now No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in both the men’s and women’s U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NAIA National Team Computer Rankings released Wednesday.

Men’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Indiana Tech 439.70 pts	Oklahoma Baptist 299.36 pts	Siena Heights 275.21 pts	Wayland Baptist 272.08 pts	Concordia (Ore.) 224.77 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

Defending men’s indoor champion Oklahoma Baptist improved two spots to No. 2 this week, settling in behind defending outdoor champ No. 1 Indiana Tech, while the women of Indiana Tech and Oklahoma Baptist remained No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

Though both the Oklahoma Baptist men and women made up ground on the top spot, both remain more than 100 team rankings points behind Indiana Tech.

The top-ranked 4×800 relay in the nation boosted the Bison men’s team rankings score by more than 32 points to 299.36, while the Warrior men improved by just 17 points behind a bevy of 200-meter sprinters, led by No. 1 John Broaden, to a team score of 439.70.

Team rankings scores are determined using a formula based on how many student-athletes teams have on the 2014 national descending order list for individual and relay events and how highly they are ranked. The closer to the top of the list a student-athlete is in his or her event, the more points are earned toward his or her team’s score.

Rounding out the top five were No. 3 Siena Heights (Mich.) (275.21 team score); No. 4 Wayland Baptist (Texas) (272.08), down two spots from last week; and No. 5 Concordia (Ore.) (224.77).

Women’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Indiana Tech 525.38 pts	Oklahoma Baptist 393.57 pts	Doane 255.68 pts	Wayland Baptist 218.34 pts	Cornerstone 217.84 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

The Indiana Tech women saw their team score decrease by more than 46 points to 525.38, while Oklahoma Baptist sustained a drop of just more than one point to hold steady at 393.57.

No. 3 Doane (Neb.) (255.68), No. 4 Wayland Baptist (Texas) (218.34), and No. 5 Cornerstone (Mich.) (217.84) completed the top five.

Notably moving into the top-10 was No. 8 Biola (Calif), which climbed 10 spots from a week ago.

The men of No. 23 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) made the biggest improvement with a 16-position jump, while the No. 13 Westmont (Calif.) women’s 12-spot improvement was the best on the women’s side.

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. A full description of the rankings can be found here.

Qualification for the NAIA Championships will not be determined in any way by these rankings, which are not officially sanctioned or endorsed by the NAIA for the 2014 season. These rankings are supported by the NAIA from the standpoint of media and entertainment purposes only.

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