Teams Gaining Ground on No. 1 Indiana Tech Men & Women in NAIA Indoor T&F National Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – For the second week in a row the top five teams for both genders remained constant in the NAIA National Team Computer Rankings unveiled Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

But first glances can be deceiving. While the order didn’t change, the margins between the top-ranked Indiana Tech men and women and the rest of the field continued to shrink as the NAIA Championships in Geneva, Ohio, at the SPIRE Institute draw ever nearer – less than three weeks away on March 6-7.

As more teams around the nation hit their strides and accumulate team rankings points (see the breakdown of the system here), the result was nine of combined 10 men’s and women’s top-five teams seeing their point totals slip from a week ago.

That effect was most pronounced on the women’s side, where each of the top five teams simultaneously moved closer to No. 1 Indiana Tech and the teams in front of them. The Warriors slipped nearly 53 points to a team rankings score of 411.69, No. 2 Doane (Neb.) dropped nearly 31 points to 348.68, No. 3 Wayland Baptist (Texas) fell nearly 24 to 261, defending national champion No. 4 Oklahoma Baptist sank nearly 11 points to 252.96 and No. 5 Cornerstone (Mich.) actually improved nearly 18 points to 215.45.

For the men, it was mostly defending national champion Indiana Tech that took the biggest hit. The Warriors dropped nearly 39 points to 444.13, but remained well ahead of No. 2 Doane (290.04), No. 3 Wayland Baptist (242.18), No. 4 Concordia (Neb.) (196.05) and No. 5 Oklahoma Baptist (190.51), which each recorded score drops in the single digits.

Both genders saw new No. 6 teams. The Concordia (Ore.) men moved up three spots on the men’s side, while the British Columbia women jumped two on the women’s.

Making the biggest upward movement of the week were the men of No. 12 St. Francis (Ill.) who leapt up 20 spots from a week ago. The most significant climb for the women came via No. 25 Columbia (Mo.), which jumped eight spots.