Adams State Women Rejoin the Men Atop the Division II National Team Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – The regular season may be over, but the battle for the women’s Division II indoor team crown continues to heat up as Adams State reclaimed the top spot in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Team Computer Rankings released Monday as the fourth different No. 1 team in the past four weeks.

Women’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Adams State 204.56 pts	Lincoln (Mo.) 195.66 pts	GVSU 179.95 pts	Ashland 126.88 pts	Johnson C. Smith 110.37 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

After falling to No. 2 last week, the women’s RMAC team champion Grizzlies rejoined their male teammates atop the National Team Computer Rankings, while formerly top-ranked GLIAC champion Grand Valley State dropped two spots to No. 3.

The Lakers’ drop also made room for preseason favorite and MIAA team champion Lincoln (Mo.) to move up one position to No. 2.

Adams State’s men (283.66 team rankings score) fortified their position atop their rankings, while defending champion Saint Augustine’s (206.37) lost ground at No. 2.

Serving as the basis for this week’s rankings were the final descending order lists posted to TFRRS, as the qualification window for the NCAA Championships has now closed. Next week’s final pre-championships rankings will be based upon the NCAA Championships entries scheduled to be announced Tuesday by 6 p.m. ET.

Men’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Adams State 283.66 pts	Saint Augustine’s 206.37 pts	Ashland 189.87 pts	GVSU 133.52 pts	Minnesota State 119.46 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

In the meantime, the Adams State women (204.56 team rankings score) took control of the top spot behind the third-ranked 4×400 relay team, which accounted for a majority of its 25-point improvement from a week ago.

Lincoln (Mo.) (195.66) kept pace with the Grizzlies after a 33-point bump to its team score with Yanique Ellington leading a dynamic sprint corps with a number of season-best times.

Despite winning the GLIAC title and keeping its team score relatively stable, the GVSU women (179.95) didn’t post the type of national performances to maintain its No. 1 rank for a second straight week.

No. 4 Ashland (126.88) and No. 5 Johnson C. Smith (110.37) again held steady.

National Athlete of the Week Jordan Gray boosted Angelo State (74.94) up six positions to No. 6, while Central Missouri (73.11) improved eight spots to No. 7. Despite being knocked down two notches, No. 8 New Mexico Highlands (72.99) remained firmly in the hunt.

No. 9 Western State (62.34) moved up one and No. 10 Alaska Anchorage (57.04) dropped three to round out the top 10.

No. 21 Livingstone made the biggest move of any top-25 Division II squad with its 79-position ascension from last week.

On the men’s side, No. 3 Ashland (189.87) held steady while GLIAC champion No. 4 Grand Valley State (133.52) and NSIC champion No. 5 Minnesota State (119.46) swapped spots.

Southern Connecticut State (81.96) flew up seven spots to No. 6, while National Athlete of the Week Jeff Piepenbrink led MIAA champion No. 7 Pittsburg State (79.66) up two positions.

No. 8 Missouri Southern (76.52) and No. 9 Findlay (67.33) both fell two positions, while Texas A&M-Kingsville (63.13) rejoined the top 10 to finish it out.

No. 15 Tiffin made the biggest move of the week with a 15-position improvement from a week ago.

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.