UW-Oshkosh is Third Consecutive New No. 1 Women’s Team in Division III National Team Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – For the third time this season – in fact, for the third week in a row – Division III has a brand new No. 1 women’s team in the National Team Computer Rankings released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

A strong Drake Relays showing boosted two-time defending indoor national champion UW-Oshkosh into the top spot past last week’s No. 1 UW-La Crosse for the first time since this same week during the Titans’ 2011 title run.

Meanwhile the No. 1 UW-La Crosse men remained on top but lost a lot of ground over in-state rivals UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire, which both moved up into the top three at No. 2 and 3, respectively.

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.

For the UWO women, it was Christy Cazzola’s top-ranked DIII performances at both 800 and 1500 meters, along with the No. 2 4×400 relay, that put the Titans over the top with a team rankings score of 186.29 – up nearly 25 points from a week ago.

Dethroned from its one-week reclamation of the rankings’ top spot, No. 2 UW-La Crosse (162.71) just barely managed to stay ahead of two-time defending outdoor champ No. 3 Wartburg (160.54), which held firm from last week.

Women’s Top Five 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-Oshkosh 186.29 pts UW-La Crosse 162.71 pts Wartburg 160.54 pts Wheaton (Mass.) 111.64 pts UW-Whitewater 87.21 pts View Complete Women’s Rankings

The No. 2 Eagles dropped more than ten points from its team rankings score, while the Knights added 12 behind Libby Schubert’s move to the second spot on the 100 meters descending order list.

While UW-La Crosse holds an advantage in overall top-10 national individual/relay performers — 11 for UWL to nine for UWO and Wartburg — but is well behind both in terms of top-three performers. Both Oshkosh and Wartburg have six to La Crosse’s two.

Two-time reigning National Athlete of the Week Ashante Little’s Wheaton (Mass.) squad (111.64) remained steady at No. 4, while UW-Whitewater (87.21) jumped six spots to rejoin the top 10 and round out the top five.

For the 10th time in the past 11 editions of the USTFCCCA rankings and the eighth straight time dating back to their national championship-winning 2013 season, the UW-La Crosse men (243.17) held on to the top spot.

Men’s Top Five 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-La Crosse 243.17 pts UW-Oshkosh 151.40 pts UW-Eau Claire 146.16 pts Mount Union 135.51 pts Augustana (Ill.) 114.14 pts View Complete Men’s Rankings

While the Eagles garnered a modest nine-point improvement to its team score, the rest of the field is charging hard behind them.

UW-Oshkosh (151.40) moved up one position to No. 2 with a nearly 29-point gain, while No. 3 UW-Eau Claire (146.16) improved by nearly 42 points to jump two positions.

Five new top-10 performances at the Drake Relays and Gina Relays for the UWO men were headlined by a pair of fourth-ranked competitors in McKena Ramos (800) and Zachary Baehman (shot put).

Relays were the name of the game for UWEC as their 4×400 left Drake ranked No. 2 in Division III and their 4×100 No. 3.

Both UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire both have six top-three national individual/relay performers, compared to UW-Oshkosh’s one. However, in terms of top-10 national performers, the UWL men top the list with 15 to UW-Oshkosh’s 10.

Mount Union (135.51) dropped two positions to No. 4 and No. 5 Augustana (Ill.) (114.14) fell one to round out the top five.

UW-Eau Claire’s women claimed the biggest top-25 move of the week with a 20-spot improvement to No. 19. UW-Stout moved up the farthest on the men’s side with a six-position jump to No. 10, while the UWS women also made a significant improvement, up 10 to No. 9.