Race For NAIA No. 1 Tightens

NEW ORLEANS – In the latest edition of the NAIA track & field team rankings released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the No. 1 teams remained the same, but the battle for the top spot tightened.  The No. 1 Indiana Tech men and No. 1 Wayland Baptist women led the nation in rankings points for the fourth straight week.  And the No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist men and No. 2 Indiana Tech women closed the gap by more than thirty points each.

OBU’s men narrowed Tech’s lead by running a nation-leading 4×800 meter relay at Drake.  Travis Hinton, Jywayne Allen, Ayoub Akil, and Clay Shepperson teamed up to run 7:31.73 and win the non-DI section in Des Moines. The Warrior women made their advance thanks to forty points from the two polar opposite hurdling events at the Penn Relays.  Laura Condron ran 11:06 in the steeplechase, and Andrea Ford ran 14.20 in the 100 meter hurdles.

Trends for both sexes were similar.  For both men and women, the composition of the top five remained the same, one team from Oregon joined the top ten, and two teams joined the top twenty-five. 

The men’s top five—Tech, Oklahoma Baptist, No. 3 Concordia (Neb.), No. 4 British Columbia, and No. 5 Southern Oregon—is the same for the second straight week. Nos. 6 and 7 Doane and Concordia (Ore.) switched places, and No. 9 Eastern Oregon joined the top ten.  The leaper of the week was No. 17 Northwestern (Iowa), up eleven ranks.  No. 23 Cumberlands (Ky.) also joined the top twenty-five.

Behind Wayland Baptist and Indiana Tech, women’s No. 3 Concordia (Neb.) and No. 4 British Columbia traded spots ahead of No. 5 Doane. Concordia (Ore.) joined the top ten at No. 10, and two squads made huge jumps.  No. 19 Brenau (Ga.) and No. 23 Friends (Kan.) moved up forty-six and seventeen spots, respectively.

The NAIA national rankings will be released on Wednesdays between now and the May 21-23 national championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama.