Wayland Baptist Makes Up Ground in Latest NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Team Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – Indiana Tech’s men’s and women’s indoor track & field teams both remained comfortably atop the second edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NAIA National Team Computer rankings released Wednesday, though Wayland Baptist is working its way up both sets of rankings.

Women’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Indiana Tech 567.41 pts	Oklahoma Baptist 336.77 pts	Doane 240.83 pts	Wayland Baptist 256.97 pts	Cornerstone 210.83 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

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 Indiana Tech women (529.85 team rankings score) remained substantial favorites over defending indoor national champion No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist (362.73).

As wide as the gap between the two teams is, it is actually more than 50 points closer than last week after the Warrior women debuted as more than a 200-point favorite over the Bison. As more top-tier marks are recorded around the country, Indiana Tech’s team total improved by just four points from a week ago while Oklahoma Baptist’s improved by almost 57 points.

OBU saw three of its nationally top-ranked performers improve on their NAIA-leading marks this past weekend, but that’s not from where its team rankings score improvement came. The Bison were propelled by its second-ranked distance medley relay team’s first race of the year, along with a pair of top-15 pentathletes making their 2014 multi-event debuts in No. 9 Emily Montgomery and No. 14 Kim Robinson.

Those same components helped No. 3 Doane (Neb.) (259.33) also improve its team rankings score by nearly 20 points. Its sixth-ranked DMR squad, a pair of top-six pentathletes in No. 4 Erin Devries and No. 6 Karissa Blank, and No. 2 shot putter Carly Henry were the driving forces in the Tigers’ improvement.

Doane’s improvement was just enough to keep it ahead of No. 4 Wayland Baptist (Texas) (256.97), which moved up a slot to No. 4 after improving its team score by 41 points. A top-ranked 4×800 relay performance and Shani Adams’ seventh-ranked run at 400 meters were the biggest components of the increase.

Cornerstone (Mich.) (210.83) fell one spot to No. 5.

No. 6 Concordia (Neb.) (188.15) improved two positions, displacing Hastings (Neb.) (171.24) and Siena Heights (Mich.) (141.88) to No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.

Carroll (Mont.) (124.34) and Bethel (Ind.) (114.71) rounded out the top 10 at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.

Men’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Indiana Tech 368.73 pts	Wayland Baptist 297.80 pts	Siena Heights 293.25 pts	Oklahoma Baptist 266.87 pts	Concordia (Ore.) 237.01 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

Indiana Tech’s men were able to extend their team rankings score advantage over the second-ranked team, which this week is Wayland Baptist (Texas) after it overtook last week’s No. 2 Siena Heights (Mich.).

The Warriors improved their team rankings score by 53.77 points to 422.50 behind a fourth-ranked DMR performance and national top-10 marks by No. 6 Robert Rose (60-meter hurdles),No. 8 Isaiah Lintz (long jump) and No. 9 Aaron Belcher (5000 meters).

Approximately 125 points behind is new No. 2 Wayland Baptist at 297.80 after increasing its team rankings score by nearly 40 points. Leading the charge for the Pioneers into the second spot were third-ranked Durawn Howard at 200 meters and their 10th-ranked 4×800 relay team.

Siena Heights (293.25) dropped one spot behind Wayland Baptist, but remained within six points.

Defending indoor champion Oklahoma Baptist (266.87) stayed stationary at No. 4, just ahead of a hard-charging Concordia (Ore.) (237.01) squad that improved three places.

As a result, Concordia (Neb.) (187.72) was displaced to No. 6, just ahead of another pair three-position gainers in No. 7 Carroll (Mont.) (172.08) and  No. 8 Oklahoma City (159.83).

No. 9 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (143.53) and No. 10 Doane (Neb.) (129.49) completed the top 10.

College of Idaho’s women recorded the biggest jump in the top 25 with a 23-position leap to No. 12, while No. 17 Morningside (Iowa) improved 14 on the men’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.