Wayland Baptist Men & Cornerstone Women Move Up in NAIA Indoor Team Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – Another edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings, another week at No. 1 for both the Indiana Tech men and women.

Men’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Indiana Tech 408.66 pts	Oklahoma Baptist 285.15 pts	Wayland Baptist 283.78 pts	Siena Heights 259.86 pts	Concordia (Ore.) 223.98 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

The Warriors, the defending outdoor national champions, maintained sizable leads in both the men’s and women’s rankings ahead of defending indoor champion Oklahoma Baptist in the most recent edition released Wednesday.

The wide chasm in team rankings scores that Indiana Tech’s men (408.66 team rankings score) have enjoyed over the No. 2 teams is beginning to dwindle. Both the Warriors and the Oklahoma Baptist Bison (285.15) saw their scores fall, but the Bisons’ nearly 15-point drop was less pronounced that the Warriors’ 31-point setback.

While both of those programs remained stationary at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, much of the remainder of the top 10 was on the move.

After falling from No. 2 to No. 4 two weeks ago, the Wayland Baptist (Texas) men (283.78) have hopped back into the race at No. 3, up one spot from a week ago. Now just less than two team rankings points behind Oklahoma Baptist, the WBU move was powered by top-ranked 60-meter hurdler Pierre Banks and second-ranked Dewayne Booker at 600 meters.

Displaced to No. 4 by Wayland Baptist’s move was Siena Heights (Mich.) (259.86), while Concordia (Ore.) (223.98) came in at No. 5.

Oklahoma City (171.59) and Concordia (Neb.) (170.46) traded places at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, as did Eastern Oregon (150.37) and Carroll (Mont.) (141.59) at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (138.77) bumped up one spot from last week to round out the top 10.

With an impressive increase of 49 positions to their rank, the No. 20 Southern Oregon men claimed the biggest top-25 jump of the week for either men or women.

Women’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Indiana Tech 528.92 pts	Oklahoma Baptist 379.78 pts	Cornerstone 237.88 pts	Doane 234.14 pts	Wayland Baptist 204.86 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

As in the men’s rankings, the defending outdoor national champion No. 1 Indiana Tech women (528.92) and the defending indoor national champion No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist women (379.78) remained entrenched in the top two positions.

Unlike the men, however, Indiana Tech’s women were able to slightly extend their team rankings score advantage. The Warriors’ 3½-point increase was compounded with the Bison dropping nearly 14 points from its team total.

Jumping up two spots from a week ago to No. 3 with a 20-point increase to their team score, the Cornerstone (Mich.) women (237.88) made the headlining move of the women’s rankings. Julie Oosterhouse’s top-ranked time at 800 meters was the driving force behind the jump to the third spot.

Making room for Cornerstone’s ascent were No. 4 Doane (Neb.) (234.14) and Wayland Baptist (Texas) (204.06), which were both down one slot from last time.

Hillary Holt posted a nation-best mile and the No. 2 3000 meters time to boost College of Idaho (181.41) up five spots to No. 6. A pair of Nebraska schools in No. 7 Concordia (174.00) and No. 8 Hastings (136.51) both dropped down one notch, as did No. 9 Biola (Calif.) (123.00).

Siena Heights (Mich.) (111.60) held firm at No. 10.

No. 17 Cal State San Marcos was the big gainer on the women’s side with a 12-position jump.

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.