New No. 1 Men’s Team in Final DIII Regular Season Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – In the final rankings before the postseason kicks off with conference championships this weekend, the UW-La Crosse men took over the No. 1 ranking for the first time since the preseason while the MIT women held onto the top spot for the second straight week. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released the rankings on Tuesday.

La Crosse’s rise was particularly abetted by their third-ranked 4×400, but depth helped as well. Six individuals and two relays on the Eagle squad contributed national ranking points this weekend.

Josh Buchholtz’s men moved up two slots; so did No. 2 Mount Union. The Purple Raiders moved up in part thanks to nation-leading marks from sprinter Tyler Mettille and thrower Sean Donnelly.

No. 7 UW-Oshkosh, No. 9 St. Olaf, and No. 10 Wartburg all moved into the top ten. That’s not just the first-ever single-digit ranking for the St. Olaf Oles; it’s their first time ever in the top twenty-five.

Four men’s teams joined the top twenty-five this week: No. 18 RIT, No. 19 Carnegie Mellon, No. 20 Salisbury, and No. 25 Rowan. RIT and Salisbury were tied for the biggest jump of the week, as both squads vaulted up 19 slots in the rankings.

For RIT, Matt Giannino was already the national leader in the 5k. They moved up after he nearly doubled their point total by throwing down one of the fastest 3ks in DIII this weekend.

Salisbury’s big jump was mostly thanks to 60 meter hurdle national record holder Luke Campbell running the fastest time in the country in that event.

NCAA Division III Computer Rankings Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-La Crosse Mount Union North Central (Ill.) UW-Eau Claire UW-Whitewater View Complete Men’s Computer Rankings   NCAA Division III Computer Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) MIT Illinois Wesleyan UW-Oshkosh UW-La Crosse St. Lawrence View Complete Women’s Computer Rankings

Seven of the eight regionally top-ranked teams stayed the same. The eighth was UW-La Crosse, who reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the Midwest.

In the women’s poll, MIT solidified its grip on the throne. Maryann Gong (mile) and Cimran Virdi (pole vault) each improved their nation-leading marks in their respective events.

The rest of the top five moved around slightly. No. 2 Illinois Wesleyan and No. 3 UW-Oshkosh each moved up one slot at No. 4 UW-La Crosse‘s expense, while St. Lawrence joined the top five.

This is the first season in which the Saints have been ranked in the top twelve, and this is their first time in the top five. (They picked a good year to have their best team ever, as SLU is hosting outdoor nationals this spring)

No. 9 Baldwin-Wallace rejoined the top ten.

No. 15 TCNJ, No. 17 Buffalo State, No. 23 Ithaca, No. 24 Misericordia, and No. 25 St. Thomas (Minn) were the five teams to join the top twenty-five this week. Misericordia jumped 29 spots; they did so after posting the nation’s leading time in the 4×400.

Mary and Kelty Fairchild, Melanie Fry, and Amy Viti won the relay at Princeton, beating out a TCNJ squad that ran the nation’s No. 4 time.

Christopher Newport (in the South/Southeast) was the lone women’s team to take over as the No. 1 ranked team in its region this week.

The NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held March 13-14 in Winston-Salem, N.C.