Indiana Tech Men & Women Set to Enter NAIA Championships as the Favorites

NEW ORLEANS – With significant advantages in the total entries to the NAIA Indoor Championships released last Friday, the top-ranked Indiana Tech men and women once again headlined the final U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NAIA National Team Computer Rankings prior to this upcoming weekend’s national championships.

Women’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Indiana Tech 549.48 pts	Oklahoma Baptist 472.23 pts	Cornerstone 240.99 pts	Doane 223.20 pts	Wayland Baptist 204.13 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

Using only times, marks and scores from student-athletes set to be in the fields at the NAIA Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, from March 6-8, the Indiana Tech men and women remained heavy favorites in the rankings, as they have since the initial release in late January.

Qualification for the meet — which can be streamed live online –ended last weekend, so any changes in team points are the result of who did or didn’t enter into an event.

The Warrior women have a whopping 40 entries set to compete this weekend compared to defending indoor champion No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist’s 26, while the IT men have 34 entries compared to the second-highest total of 19 belonging to No. 8 Concordia (Neb.).

While both No. 1 squads enjoy a significant advantage in total entries, both also saw their leads in the computer rankings erode.

Men’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Indiana Tech 446.17 pts	Concordia (Ore.) 275.59 pts	Siena Heights 268.22 pts	Wayland Baptist 259.20 pts	Oklahoma Baptist 242.43 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

The Indiana Tech women (546.48 team rankings score) particularly saw this, as their once-vast lead over defending indoor champion OBU (472.23) dwindled to just over 70 points as the championships approach.

Rounding out a stationary top five were No. 3 Cornerstone (Mich.) (240.99), No. 4 Doane (Neb.) (223.20) and No. 5 Wayland Baptist (Texas) (204.13).

Indiana Tech’s men (446.17) enter nationals with a sizable advantage over new No. 2 Concordia (Ore.) (275.59), which improved three spots from a week ago.

Siena Heights (Mich.) (268.22) stayed put at No. 3, while Wayland Baptist (259.20) dropped two spots and defending indoor national champion Oklahoma Baptist (242.43) slid down a notch to No. 5.

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. A full description of the rankings can be found here.

Qualification for the NAIA Championships will not be determined in any way by these rankings, which are not officially sanctioned or endorsed by the NAIA for the 2014 season. These rankings are supported by the NAIA from the standpoint of media and entertainment purposes only.

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