Adams State Men, Ashland Women Top Tight NCAA Division II National Rankings Races

NEW ORLEANS – Adams State’s men have moved to the top of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings following the conclusion of regular-season competition, but by no means are they the clear No. 1.

The Grizzlies were boosted by strong individual performances at the RMAC Championships to check in at No. 1 in this week’s penultimate edition of the rankings released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), just barely ahead of another surging squad in No. 2 Findlay.

The final edition of the National Team Computer Rankings will be released next Monday, and will include only athletes entered into the NCAA Championships to be held March 13-14 at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama. This week’s edition includes all marks from the 2014-15 indoor season.

Just three points separate the top two men’s schools’ ranking point totals this week, with Adams State checking in at 163.82 and Findlay at 160.74. Lurking at No. 3 just 10 points back is GLIAC champ and former No. 1 Grand Valley State.

The points system used in the National Team Computer Rankings do not reflect the scoring system used at the NCAA Championships. For a full breakdown of the rankings formula, click here.

Entries for the NCAA Division II Championships will be announced Tuesday night.

Adams State moved up three spots from No. 4, while former men’s No. 1 Ashland dropped three spots to the Grizzlies’ former position.

The women’s race also tightened up with MIAA champion No. 2 Central Missouri surging back toward the No. 1 spot it lost earlier this season to Ashland, and with New Mexico Highlands moving up into the top three. Only six points separates Ashland (150.23) from UCM (144.64), with NMHU just 13 more points back.

In what is a clear illustration that the national rankings are indicative only of how teams are projected to perform at the NCAA Championships, neither Adams State nor Findlay won their respective RMAC or GLIAC titles this past weekend. The same is true of women’s GLIAC runner-up Ashland and women’s RMAC runner-up New Mexico Highlands – though the latter was only runner-up because of the disqualification of its winning 4×400 relay.

But each of those programs – along with men’s No. 3 Grand Valley State among top-five teams – received big boosts from athletes who posted performances that could transcend conference glory onto the national level.

NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Adams State Findlay Grand Valley St. Ashland Colorado Mines View Complete Men’s National Coaches’ Poll   NCAA Division II National Coaches’ Poll Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Ashland Central Missouri NM Highlands Grand Valley St. Hillsdale View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

Adams State got the biggest boost – 42 points in the rankings – from its conference meets, as DII distance star Kevin Batt moved to No. 3 on the qualifying list for the mile – giving Adams State the top three milers in the country – and he also anchored the No. 1 distance medley relay team. The traditional distance running powerhouse now has the top three milers in the country, as well as No. 1 standing at both 3000 and 5000 meters and in the DMR.

Pushing the Findlay men forward were top-10 field event performances from No. 7 long jumper Michael Bruce and No. 4 shot putter Mathieu Marcoccia. The Oilers jumped up 23 points from a week ago.

GLIAC champion GVSU got nine season’s best performances that impacted the rankings, none more so than Bryce Bradley moving to No. 5 at 3000 meters.

Ashland checked in at No. 4 with 130.28 points, down nearly 15 from last week.

Two teams emerged for the No. 5 spot in nearly a virtual tie. RMAC champion Colorado Mines came in at No. 5 with 113.69 points, just ahead of No. 6 Tiffin with 113.18. The Dragons were led by National Athlete of the Week Lamar Hargrove, who will hope to duplicate his 60/200 meter national title sweep next week.

NSIC champ and former No. 1 Minnesota State and two-time defending national champion Saint Augustine’s both fell two spots to No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, while No. 9 Central Missouri fell one spot. Moving up six spots behind its MIAA title over UCM was No. 10 Pittsburg State.

In the women’s rankings, the Central Missouri women powered to an MIAA title behind 11 season’s best performances that impacted the national rankings, headlined by a pair of top-10 pentathletes in No. 5 Zoe Sharplin and No. 7 Madison Smith. Those two also recorded top-10 marks in open events: Smith at No. 5 in the high jump and Sharplin at No. 8 in the 60-meter hurdles.

Though Ashland and UCM are both closer to the top than No. 3 New Mexico Highlands, it has the wild card in all-around star National Athlete of the Week Salcia Slack. The rankings put limits on event doubling to integrate the concept of diminishing returns into the formula, and since Slack is so highly ranked in so many events, her No. 4 triple jump and No. 5 long jump marks don’t count for full points. She’s the reigning outdoor champion in the long jump and finished third in the triple both indoors and out in 2014.

Depending on which events Slack contests at the NCAA Championships, NMHU could have the potential to score even more points that the computers project.

NMHU is more than just Slack, though. Shanna Thomas moved up to No. 2 at 60 meters, and Shanice McPherson and Stephania Gyamfi moved to No. 7 at 60 and 200 meters, respectively.

No. 4 GLAIC champion GVSU dropped down a spot to make room for New Mexico Highlands, while GLIAC rival Hillsdale remained constant at No. 5.

Though Lincoln (Mo.) lost the MIAA to UCM, the defending national outdoor champion Blue Tigers moved up two spots to No. 6. Simon Fraser fell one spot to No. 7.

Rounding out the top 10 were three teams that all moved up three spots: NSIC champ No. 8 U-Mary, No. 9 New Haven and RMAC champ No. 10 Adams State.

Just outside the top 10, Southern Connecticut‘s women moved up nine spots to No. 11, Angelo State improved 23 positions to No. 14 and Saginaw Valley cracked the top 25 with an 18-spot improvement to No. 24.

The biggest move on the men’s side came from Lone Star Conference champ No. 15 Texas A&M-Commerce, which climbed 10 positions.

The final regional rankings of the 2015 indoor season saw four new No. 1 women’s teams in Lincoln (Mo.) for the Central Region, Adams State for the South Central, Wingate for the Southeast and Seattle Pacific for the West.

The lone new regional No. 1 men’s team was Alaska Anchorage in the West.