Saint Augustine’s Men Overtake No. 1 in DII Rankings; Lincoln (Mo.) Women Remain No. 1

NEW ORLEANS – The indoor champion Saint Augustine’s men are back on top of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday, while the Lincoln (Mo.) women remain No. 1.

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Saint Augustine’s used a strong weekend at the Raleigh Relays to move up a spot to No. 1 and trade places with Grand Canyon as defending outdoor champ Adams State had a strong weekend at Stanford to bolster their No. 3 position. The Lincoln women were the only team in the top 5 to improve their team score in the rankings, solidifying their hold on No. 1.

Preseason national team rankings are calculated using data from previous seasons as a base of evaluation. Marks gained in the early part of this season will supersede previous-year marks if they are superior. Read more about the process here. The "event rankings" reference in this article include this season’s marks in addition to returners’ marks from 2012.

Saint Augustine’s Men Overtake Grand Canyon for No. 1

Saint Augustine’s is no stranger to the top spot in the DII outdoor rankings, as the Falcons spent all but two weeks of last season at No. 1 before finishing third at the NCAA Championships. The Falcons gained 14.15 net points for a team score of 233.88 points. They reach the top spot for the first time this season behind a pair of performances ranked No. 3 in the event rankings, which include returners’ top 2012 times/marks, in 400  hurdler Elhadji Mbow’s 50.64 and a 39.75 from the 4×100 relay team.

Grand Canyon slipped a spot with a 7.48 net point loss for a 227.40 team score. Freshman sprinter Dario Horvat improved to No. 2 at 100 meters with a 10.18 at the Texas Relays, and Horvat and junior Fred Taylor are No. 1 and 2 in the event in 2013. Pole vaulters Vince and Eric Frawley moved to No. 1 and 6, respectively, in the event rankings.

Adams State, looking to repeat as national champions, had a strong opener at the Stanford Invitational to gain 17.22 team points for a team total of 203.79. the Grizzlies are atop the 2013 leaderboards in three of the four distance events, with the top three runners at 1500 meters in sophomores Kevin Batt (3:42.78) and Matt Daniels (3:45.45) and junior Stephen Emery (3:48.32); sophomore Tabor Stevens at 5000 meters (13:57.94) and David Sanchez at 10,000 (29:23.30).

Findlay remained at No. 4, gaining 9.25 net points for a 142.94 team score behind junior pole vaulter Corey Shank (16-4¾/5.00m) and junior shot putter Marcus Vicars (55-6¼/16.92m) making significant gains in the event rankings.

Texas A&M-Kingsville remained No. 5, dropping 2.41 net points to 130.24.

Lincoln (Mo.) women build lead at No. 1

The women’s rankings didn’t see as much movement as its male counterpart, with modest gains or losses in terms of team points for each of the top five teams. Lincoln made the biggest movement of the top five, gaining 8.49 team points for a total of 287.93 behind Sheri Kaye Campbell’s No. 2 high jump (5-9¼/1.76m) and No. 9 triple jump (39-7¼/12.07m) and the improvements of Donna-Lee Hylton at 200 meters (24.21).

At No. 2, Adams State women dropped 4.87  net points to 201.87, despite the steeplechase performance of National Athlete of the Week Alicia Adams at 10:09.62 at the Stanford Invitational.

Grand Canyon lost 4.15 net points at No. 3 for a team total of 172.08, defending champ No. 4 Grand Valley State held steady at 141.88 and Johnson C. Smith rounded out the top five with a 5.32 net point loss to a 121.38 team score.

Biggest Jump (Men): 5 – West Texas A&M
Biggest Jump (Women): 3 -Wayne State (Neb.)