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UW-La Crosse is the Latest Women’s No. 1 in the Close Battle Atop the DIII National Team Rankings
By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA
May 7, 2014
NEW ORLEANS – Just one week after losing the top spot in the Division III National Team Computer Rankings to in-state rival UW-Oshkosh, the UW-La Crosse women have stormed back to the top following a resounding WIAC Championship win.
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The Eagles rejoined their defending national champion male teammates atop the week six rankings released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
La Crosse’s women were boosted to the No. 1 spot by a DIII-leading 100 meters performance from Meg Heafy, along with Jaime Ludwigson (No. 2, 100-meter hurdles; No. 4 triple jump) and No. 3 Bria Halama (triple jump). Behind those efforts, UWL improved its team score by more than 36 points to 199.18.
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.
Those performances were just enough to edge the Eagles ahead of Oshkosh, which improved five points to 191.30 but nonetheless lost its grasp on the No. 1 position. This marks the fourth consecutive week a different team has occupied the rankings’ top spot.
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Two-time defending champion No. 3 Wartburg (142.35) remained stationary but saw its team score drop by nearly 20 points.
UW-Whitewater (103.50) improved one spot to No. 4, trading places with new No. 5 Wheaton (Mass.) (97.64) to round out the top five.
Just outside the top five was UW-Eau Claire at No. 6 after a 13-position gain from a week ago. That wasn’t even the biggest top-25 move of the week in the women’s rankings, as National Athlete of the Week Amelia Campbell’s No. 20 Carleton was up 24 spots.
The UW-La Crosse men made modest gains in the rankings with an eight-point improvement to 251.26 following its WIAC title.
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Continuing an ongoing battle for the No. 2 spot, UW-Eau Claire saw little improvement to its 146.48 team rankings score, but rose to No. 2 as UW-Oshkosh’s team score dropped by eight points to 143.24. That order is opposite of how the pair finished at WIACs behind La Crosse.
CCIW Champion North Central (Ill.) (122.07) rejoined the top five at No. 4 between the combination of an eight-point improvement and falls by OAC Champion No. 5 Mount Union (119. 23) and CCIW rival No. 6 Augustana (Ill.) (99.20).
National Athlete of the Week Luke Campbell carried his Salisbury men to a CAC title and the week’s farthest move up the top-25 rankings with a 22-position increase to No. 23.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division III |
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Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
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2014 Week #6 — May 7 |
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| next ranking: May 14 | |||||
| Rank | School | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
| 1 | UW-La Crosse | 251.26 | WIAC | Josh Buchholtz (6th) | 1 |
| 2 | UW-Eau Claire | 146.48 | WIAC | Chip Schneider (12th) | 3 |
| 3 | UW-Oshkosh | 143.24 | WIAC | Eamon McKenna (2nd) | 2 |
| 4 | North Central (Ill.) | 122.07 | CCIW | Frank Gramarosso (4th) | 6 |
| 5 | Mount Union | 119.23 | OAC | Kevin Lucas (4th) | 4 |
| 6 | Augustana (Ill.) | 99.20 | CCIW | Paul Olsen (45th) | 5 |
| 7 | Wartburg | 80.61 | IIAC | Marcus Newsom (16th) | 7 |
| 8 | Greenville | 75.15 | SLIAC | Brian Patton (20th) | 11 |
| 9 | Haverford | 74.92 | Centennial | Tom Donnelly (39th) | 9 |
| 10 | La Verne | 69.43 | SCIAC | Pat Widolff (22nd) | 23 |
| 11 | Johns Hopkins | 67.57 | Centennial | Bobby Van Allen (15th) | 13 |
| 12 | Carthage | 63.34 | CCIW | Brett Witt (9th) | 14 |
| 13 | UW-Whitewater | 60.14 | WIAC | Mike Johnson (5th) | 8 |
| 14 | UW-Stout | 60.05 | WIAC | Kyle Steiner (1st) | 10 |
| 15 | MIT | 58.51 | NEWMAC | Halston Taylor (24th) | 17 |
| 16 | Washington and Lee | 55.11 | ODAC | Brandon Uhl (3rd) | 22 |
| 17 | Redlands | 52.74 | SCIAC | Mike Schmidt (7th) | 34 |
| 18 | Whitworth | 52.42 | Northwest | Toby Schwarz (18th) | 15 |
| 19 | Washington (Mo.) | 52.15 | UAA | Jeff Stiles (13th) | 19 |
| 20 | Moravian | 52.10 | Landmark | Jesse Baumann (3rd) | 18 |
| 21 | Wabash | 48.71 | NCAC | Clyde Morgan (6th) | 16 |
| 22 | SUNY Oneonta | 47.12 | SUNYAC | Angelo Posillico (1st) | 26 |
| 23 | Salisbury | 46.44 | CAC | Jim Jones (15th) | 45 |
| 24 | Nebraska Wesleyan | 46.02 | Great Plains | Ted Bulling (29th) | 20 |
| 25 | Tufts | 42.83 | NESCAC | Ethan Barron (9th) | 21 |
| Dropped out: No. 12 Baldwin Wallace, No. 24 UT Tyler, No. 25 SUNY Cortland | |||||
| View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 | |||||
| Men’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | WIAC | 714.10 | 5 |
| 2 | CCIW | 291.19 | 3 |
| 3 | OAC | 205.21 | 1 |
| 4 | SCIAC | 197.67 | 2 |
| 5 | Centennial | 194.14 | 2 |
| 6 | NESCAC | 174.75 | 1 |
| 7 | IIAC | 149.13 | 1 |
| 8 | SUNYAC | 137.62 | 1 |
| 9 | SLIAC | 129.17 | 1 |
| 10 | UAA | 122.31 | 1 |
USTFCCCA NCAA Division III |
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Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
|||||
2014 Week #6 — May 7 |
|||||
| next ranking: May 14 | |||||
| Rank | School | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
| 1 | UW-La Crosse | 199.18 | WIAC | Pat Healy (23rd) | 2 |
| 2 | UW-Oshkosh | 191.30 | WIAC | Ben Dorsey (2nd) | 1 |
| 3 | Wartburg | 142.35 | IIAC | Marcus Newsom (16th) | 3 |
| 4 | UW-Whitewater | 103.50 | WIAC | Mike Johnson (3rd) | 5 |
| 5 | Wheaton (Mass.) | 97.64 | NEWMAC | Dave Cusano (3rd) | 4 |
| 6 | UW-Eau Claire | 77.07 | WIAC | Chip Schneider (8th) | 19 |
| 7 | UW-Stout | 76.15 | WIAC | Kyle Steiner (1st) | 9 |
| 8 | Johns Hopkins | 71.68 | Centennial | Bobby Van Allen (15th) | 12 |
| 9 | Cal Lutheran | 70.97 | SCIAC | Matt Lea (6th) | 6 |
| 10 | La Verne | 69.71 | SCIAC | Pat Widolff (22nd) | 8 |
| 11 | Baldwin Wallace | 64.75 | OAC | Bill Taraschke (29th) | 7 |
| 12 | Williams | 64.19 | NESCAC | Nate Hoey (1st) | 10 |
| 13 | Washington (Mo.) | 62.42 | UAA | Jeff Stiles (13th) | 14 |
| 14 | MIT | 62.11 | NEWMAC | Halston Taylor (7th) | 21 |
| 15 | Ohio Wesleyan | 61.14 | NCAC | Kris Boey (12th) | 15 |
| 16 | St. Thomas (Minn.) | 60.01 | MIAC | Joe Sweeney (34th) | 32 |
| 17 | Amherst | 58.94 | NESCAC | Cassie Funke-Harris (2nd) | 16 |
| 18 | North Central (Ill.) | 56.40 | CCIW | Kari Kluckhohn (11th) | 17 |
| 19 | St. Lawrence | 55.52 | Liberty League | Kate Curran (6th) | 18 |
| 20 | Carleton | 53.98 | MIAC | Donna Ricks (21st) | 44 |
| 21 | Monmouth (Ill.) | 52.01 | Midwest | Roger Haynes (14th) | 36 |
| 22 | Rhodes | 51.05 | SAA | Robert Shankman (23rd) | 13 |
| 23 | Westminster (Pa.) | 49.87 | PAC | Tim McNeil (7th) | 25 |
| 24 | Illinois Wesleyan | 49.77 | CCIW | Chris Schumacher (17th) | 23 |
| 25 | Rowan | 49.72 | NJAC | Derick “Ringo” Adamson (7th) | 11 |
| Dropped out: No. 20 Emory, No. 22 Carthage, No. 24 George Fox | |||||
| View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 | |||||
| Women’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | WIAC | 700.21 | 5 |
| 2 | IIAC | 229.01 | 1 |
| 3 | NESCAC | 228.80 | 2 |
| 4 | NEWMAC | 201.86 | 2 |
| 5 | CCIW | 200.51 | 2 |
| 6 | SCIAC | 196.86 | 2 |
| 7 | MIAC | 157.74 | 2 |
| 8 | NCAC | 156.20 | 1 |
| 9 | Centennial | 131.07 | 1 |
| 10 | Northwest Conference | 126.08 | |
