Division II’s Top Teams Remain Steady in National Team Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – Defending men’s indoor champion Saint Augustine’s and the Lincoln (Mo.) women remained atop the week three edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday.

Men’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Saint Augustine’s 214.87 pts	Adams State 205.87 pts	Ashland 153.70 pts	Minnesota State 134.71 pts	GVSU 125.07 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

Both the Falcons and the Blue Tigers continued to reign atop top-fives in each gender that remained constant from a week ago. The latter halves of the top 10 were another story, however, as all but one team ranked between No. 6 and No. 10 changed positions from a week ago.

The difference between Saint Augustine’s and Lincoln (Mo.), despite their rank remaining the same, was that the Falcons’ advantage in team rankings points shrunk while the Blue Tigers’ grew.

Saint Augustine’s (214.87) saw its team score decrease by more than 22 points, while No. 2 Adams State (205.87) – from which the Falcons reclaimed the rankings’ top spot last week – sustained a decrease of fewer than eight points.

No. 3 Ashland (153.70), No. 4 Minnesota State (134.71) and No. 5 Grand Valley State (125.07) remained in place.

The remainder of the top 10 was shuffled up as No. 6 Southern Indiana (87.11) moved up two spots from a week ago, displacing Missouri Southern (83.58) down one slot to No. 7.

Neb.-Kearney (78.75) leapt five positions up to No. 8 for its first top-10 appearance since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2010.

Pittsburg State (76.91) was down two to No. 9, while Southern Connecticut gained two spots to round out the top 10.

After falling from No. 19 to nearly out of the top 100 last week, Lake Superior State was back in a big way this week, up 73 spots to No. 21. No. 19 Academy of Art also made a big jump back into the top 25 with a 24-notch improvement from last week.

Women’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Lincoln (Mo.) 179.47 pts	GVSU 162.22 pts	Adams State 154.30 pts	Ashland 129.14 pts	Johnson C. Smith 107.27 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

In the women’s rankings, Lincoln (Mo.) (179.47) – despite its team score dropping by nearly five points – ultimately ended up with a larger lead over No. 2 Grand Valley State (162.22) after the Lakers saw their team score decrease by more than 15 points.

No. 3 Adams State (154.30), No. 4 Ashland (129.14), No. 5 Johnson C. Smith (107.27) and No. 6 New Mexico Highlands (78.05) all remained steady from a week ago.

Metro State (66.90) improved two positions from last week to No. 7, while No. 8 Tiffin (56.61) enjoyed an 11-spot improvement. Angelo State (54.44) was displaced two notches to No. 9 as a result.

Back at No. 10 was defending indoor champion Academy of Art, which had briefly dropped out of the top-25 the past two weeks after starting the preseason at No. 10. The Urban Knights’ 21-spot improvement from last week was the largest by any women’s team in the top 25.

National Team Computer Rankings will be complied by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists.

The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. A full description of the rankings can be found here.

USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings should not be referred to as a “poll” as no voting occurs during the process.