UW-La Crosse Men & Women Begin 2014 Division III Outdoor T&F Season at No. 1

NEW ORLEANS – Both the UW-La Crosse men and women will start their 2014 outdoor track & field campaigns at No. 1 in the preseason U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III National Team Computer Rankings released Wednesday.

Using a combination of data from the current 2014 outdoor season (not the indoor season) and the top 2013 marks by returning student-athletes, the UWL men are projected as heavy favorites to defend their national outdoor title over in-state rival UW-Eau Claire, while the computers see little difference between the UWL women and two-time defending national outdoor team champion Wartburg.

Women’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
UW-La Crosse 172.46 pts 2013: 5th	Wartburg 171.95 pts 2013: 1st	Rowan 127.86 pts 2013: 11th	UW-Oshkosh 119.69 pts 2013: 2nd	Johns Hopkins 103.31 pts 2013: 13th
View Complete Women’s Rankings

After a fifth-place finish a year ago, the Eagles women (172.46 team rankings points) were boosted to the No. 1 position behind 10 performers ranked within the top 10 of their respective events.

Among them are the top-ranked 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams and Jaime Ludwigson in the top five both at 100 (No. 5) and 200 meters (No. 4).

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Top-ranked shot putter Kayla Hemann and steepler Sammi Bruett lifted the reigning champion Wartburg women to No. 2 with 171.95 team rankings points – little more than a half point behind UWL.

A successful title defense by the Knights would make them the third women’s team in DIII history to win three consecutive outdoor national titles, and the first since Wheaton (Mass.) from 2001-03. UW-Oshkosh (1995-97) and Christopher Newport (1987-89) also accomplished the feat.

History is on Wartburg’s side as three of the past four preseason No. 1s have proceeded to finish the season at No. 1, including the Knights in each of the past two seasons. The one team that didn’t? Also Wartburg in 2011, when it finished runner-up.

Rowan (127.86) came in at No. 3, followed by two-time defending indoor champion No. 4 UW-Oshkosh (119.69) and No. 5 Johns Hopkins (103.31), the two-time defending cross country champions from the fall.

Men’s Top Five
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
UW-La Crosse 232.34 pts 2013: 1st	UW-Eau Claire 150.23 pts 2013: 2nd	UW-Oshkosh 143.67 pts 2013: 3rd	UW-Whitewater 127.12 pts 2013: 4th	Whitworth 90.57 pts 2013: 10th
View Complete Men’s Rankings

With 13 competitors ranked among the top 10 in their events – including top-ranked Bryan Klister (pole vault) and the No. 1 4×100 relay – the UW-La Crosse men (232.34 team rankings points) are heavy favorites over the rest of the field.

As both the preseason favorite and the recent indoor champion, recent history as it relates to UW-La Crosse is a mixed bag. The good news for the Eagles is that three of the past four indoor team champions have gone on to complete the sweep with a matching outdoor title.

The bad news? None of them have done it as the outdoor preseason (or week one) favorite since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2010. The last time UWL was the preseason No. 1 in 2012 it finished runner-up.

Next up is No. 2 UW-Eau Claire (150.23) behind Thurgood Dennis as the top-ranked man at 100 and 200 meters, the No. 2 man at 400 meters, and a potential member of the top-ranked 4×400 relay.

No. 3 UW-Oshkosh (143.67), No. 4 UW-Whitewater (127.12) and No. 5 Whitworth (90.57) rounded out the top five.

The national team 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 NCAA Division III
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
2014 Preseason — March 26
next ranking: April 2

Rank	School	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	2013 FINAL
1	UW-La Crosse	232.34	WIAC	Josh Buchholtz (6th)	1
2	UW-Eau Claire	150.23	WIAC	Chip Schneider (12th)	2
3	UW-Oshkosh	143.67	WIAC	Eamon McKenna (2nd)	3
4	UW-Whitewater	127.12	WIAC	Mike Johnson (5th)	4
5	Whitworth	90.57	Northwest	Toby Schwarz (18th)	10
6	Mount Union	87.20	OAC	Kevin Lucas (4th)	12
7	Whittier	86.19	SCIAC	Dave Hogan (7th)	7
8	Central (Iowa)	85.11	IIAC	Joe Dunham (6th)	22
9	Salisbury	82.28	CAC	Jim Jones (15th)	13
10	Christopher Newport	79.79	CAC	Tyler Wingard (8th)	53
11	Wartburg	76.79	IIAC	Marcus Newsom (16th)	15
12	SUNY Cortland	72.99	SUNYAC	Steve Patrick (7th)	61
13	North Central (Ill.)	72.84	CCIW	Frank Gramarosso (4th)	5
14	MIT	71.79	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (24th)	53
15	Carthage	68.22	CCIW	Brett Witt (9th)	NR
16	Bates	66.04	NESCAC	Al Fereshetian (19th)	9
17	Greenville	65.93	SLIAC	Brian Patton (20th)	13
18	UW-Stout	61.65	WIAC	Kyle Steiner (1st)	NR
19	Buffalo State	60.12	SUNYAC	Eugene Lewis (14th)	72
20	Coast Guard	56.17	NEWMAC	Ethan Brown (3rd)	37
21	SUNY Oneonta	55.93	SUNYAC	Angelo Posillico (1st)	6
22	Augustana (Ill.)	54.95	CCIW	Paul Olsen (45th)	18
23	Moravian	48.76	Landmark	Jesse Baumann (3rd)	72
24	Wabash	47.27	NCAC	Clyde Morgan (6th)	53
25	Haverford	45.25	Centennial	Tom Donnelly (39th)	8

View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	WIAC	788.16	5
2	SUNYAC	218.96	3
3	CCIW	216.07	3
4	CAC	203.53	2
5	NESCAC	193.63	1
6	SCIAC	190.56	1
7	IIAC	188.66	2
8	Northwest Conference	151.66	1
9	OAC	148.62	1
10	NEWMAC	135.55	2

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
2014 Preseason — March 26
next ranking: April 2

Rank	School	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	2013 FINAL
1	UW-La Crosse	172.46	WIAC	Pat Healy (23rd)	5
2	Wartburg	171.95	IIAC	Marcus Newsom (16th)	1
3	Rowan	127.86	NJAC	Derick “Ringo” Adamson (7th)	11
4	UW-Oshkosh	119.69	WIAC	Ben Dorsey (2nd)	2
5	Johns Hopkins	103.31	Centennial	Bobby Van Allen (15th)	13
6	Wheaton (Mass.)	98.59	NEWMAC	Dave Cusano (3rd)	8
7	Cal Lutheran	94.83	SCIAC	Matt Lea (6th)	33
8	Williams	89.10	NESCAC	Nate Hoey (1st)	10
9	UW-Whitewater	88.52	WIAC	Mike Johnson (3rd)	7
10	MIT	81.68	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (7th)	39
11	Buffalo State	74.53	SUNYAC	Eugene Lewis (14th)	3
12	Washington (Mo.)	72.14	UAA	Jeff Stiles (13th)	12
13	North Central (Ill.)	67.91	CCIW	Kari Kluckhohn (11th)	38
14	Ramapo	63.40	NJAC	Mike Jackson (10th)	3
15	Lehman	58.94	CUNYAC	Lesleigh Hogg (18th)	26
16	Birmingham-Southern	58.76	SAA	Kenneth Cox (5th)	16
17	Concordia Moorhead	57.90	MIAC	Marv Roeske (19th)	26
18	Monmouth (Ill.)	53.60	Midwest	Roger Haynes (14th)	15
19	Washington and Jefferson	50.33	PAC	Dale Boring (1st)	18
20	WPI	45.85	NEWMAC	Brian Chabot (6th)	18
21	La Verne	45.09	SCIAC	Pat Widolff (22nd)	69
22	Illinois Wesleyan	43.75	CCIW	Chris Schumacher (17th)	22
23	SUNY Cortland	43.54	SUNYAC	Steve Patrick (7th)	51
24	UW-Eau Claire	43.28	WIAC	Chip Schneider (8th)	24
25	Calvin	43.04	MIAA	Bret Otte (5th)	26

View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	WIAC	493.42	4
2	NEWMAC	283.72	3
3	IIAC	230.51	1
4	NJAC	225.83	2
5	NESCAC	208.98	1
6	SCIAC	182.46	2
7	CCIW	169.44	2
8	UAA	157.88	1
9	SUNYAC	156.90	2
10	MIAC	145.10	1

Team	Week #1	Week #2	Week #3	Week #4	Week #5	Week #6	Week #7	FINAL
Southern California	2	3	1	2	2	2	2	1
Georgia	75	58	67	27	27	13	12	2
Auburn	20	25	27	7	7	6	4	3
Arkansas	18	1	2	1	1	1	1	4
Oklahoma State	22	22	25	31	14	14	10	5
Mississippi State	24	34	16	13	15	19	14	6
Virginia	17	27	15	17	8	9	18	6
Texas Tech	3	7	4	3	5	5	6	8
North Carolina	10	8	5	6	3	4	7	8
Texas A&M	1	2	3	5	4	3	3	10
Ole Miss	13	10	13	16	17	18	16	10
Oklahoma	4	6	8	8	9	8	9	12
Nebraska	12	13	11	18	18	22	21	12
BYU	74	52	36	25	28	29	25	14
Oregon	87	36	55	57	54	51	50	15
Georgetown	59	82	49	26	19	25	17	16
Kentucky	31	40	44	33	34	26	23	16
Wisconsin	27	41	34	53	24	27	26	16
Washington	5	4	7	4	6	7	5	19
Villanova	11	15	9	10	11	10	8	19
South Carolina	33	28	32	60	75	46	48	21
South Florida	38	30	30	30	33	42	74	21
Baylor	81	33	24	22	25	24	20	23
Arizona State	15	19	21	32	35	20	19	24
Missouri	35	17	20	19	23	31	28	24
New Mexico	29	20	23	15	16	15	11	26
Purdue	23	31	35	34	39	35	30	26
Texas	7	14	26	37	38	39	37	26
Wyoming	63	44	42	40	44	40	38	26
Duke	45	77	63	43	46	49	51	26
Iowa	34	23	19	23	22	33	33	31
LSU	73	74	73	74	72	38	36	32
CSUN	36	37	33	39	40	43	43	32
Northern Colorado	47	70	74	76	59	67	64	32
Wake Forest	101	66	66	48	32	34	32	35
Cal Poly	132	72	70	61	63	36	40	36
Akron	42	43	41	41	43	44	44	36
Miami (Fla.)	53	84	100	97	99	73	72	36
Boston University	88	87	92	101	94	90	78	36
Illinois	8	9	12	9	10	12	13	40
Virginia Tech	9	12	10	14	20	16	22	41
Cincinnati	79	90	59	21	21	32	27	41
South Alabama		56	54	72	69	48	49	41
Northern Iowa	43	59	69	69	67	75	71	41
Colorado	30	38	51	86	89	93	85	41
Harvard	16	16	22	24	26	21	42	46
Tarleton State	71	91	88	47	49	54	54	46
Arkansas-Pine Bluff	76	64	46	63	61	64	62	46
Utah State	68	55	53	64	62	65	63	46
Iowa State	6	21	17	35	37	41	41	50
Louisville	129	71	86	85	83	57	52	50
Boston College		101	106	68	64	66	56	50
Kent State	49	61	58	59	57	61	58	50
Alabama	37	35	40	49	55	68	65	50
UCLA	61	95	52	56	58	70	67	50
Penn State	14	11	14	20	13	23	15	56
Florida	21	5	6	11	12	11	29	56
Northern Arizona	64	32	38	36	36	30	31	56
Houston	39	46	60	28	31	17	35	56
Texas State	56	63	37	29	30	28	24
California	19	18	18	12	29	37	34
Princeton	26	47	61	65	42	45	39
Washington State	48	42	50	50	45	50	45
Arizona	41	51	39	44	48	47	46
Montana State	146	119	112	72	56	56	47
Clemson	40	26	29	38	50	53	53
Alabama State	83	86	93	99	41	58	55
Kansas	109	83	82	89	87	55	57
Air Force	62	69	77	58	60	62	59
North Carolina A&T	46	48	47	54	52	60	60
Southeastern Louisiana			122	80	82	63	61
Connecticut	32	39	48	75	71	72	66
Florida State	70	67	79	66	66	69	68
High Point	28	45	43	55	53	71	69
Furman	60	73	72	77	74	74	70
Ohio State	82	54	64	67	68	76	73
Tennessee	25	24	28	45	47	59	75
TCU	58	29	31	46	76	84	76
Rutgers	52	53	62	81	79	77	77
Indiana State	84	93	96	83	84	80	79
North Texas	67	68	68	79	80	87	79
Cal State Fullerton	123	121	65	71	70	81	81
Portland	90	105	108	78	77	79	82
Samford	80	94	85	92	90	82	83
Penn	85	112	113	115	113	86	84
Syracuse		150		91	98	96	85
Grand Canyon	72	98	97	62	65	78	87
Norfolk State		102	110		73	97	87
South Dakota	55	62	75	84	78	83	89
DePaul	69	78	83	82	81	89	90
Southeast Missouri	78	80	80	87	91	92	91
East Texas A&M	127	88	94	52	51	52
Stanford	44	49	56	42	86	85
Arkansas State	51	79	81	88	85	88
NC State	96	89	89	104	102	91
Cornell	86	111	114	121	97	94
Eastern Kentucky	94	76	84	94	96	95
Southern Miss	65	57	71	93	92	98
Kansas State	121	114	101	105	107	99
Indiana	112	130		111	100	100
Sacramento State	56	64	76	95	93	101
Louisiana	146	127	139	124	126	102
Eastern Washington	115	132	105	108	108	103
Columbia	120	141	91	96	95	104
Georgia Tech	54	96	99	102	105	105
Notre Dame	98	97	102	109	101	106
Incarnate Word		75	95	90	88	107
Youngstown State	102	85	87	103	104	108
Michigan	92	114	90	100	103	109
Boise State		123	137	133	126	110
Sam Houston State	114	137				111
Wichita State	100	147			109	112
Kennesaw State	128	139	134			113
Holy Cross	76	92	98	106	106	114
Lamar	132	125	130	118	118	115
UTEP	129	141	139			115
ULM	105	147		117	116	117
Louisiana Tech	115	132	134	135		117
Colorado State	91	103	111	114	112	119
Binghamton	137	123	130	130	117	119
Eastern Illinois	104	145	139	111	110	121
UTSA	110	147		111	110	121
George Mason	132	145	119	116	115	121
Bradley		136		120	122	124
Middle Tennessee	93	134	132	132		125
Western Kentucky						125
UNC Asheville						125
Michigan State	97	99	103	107	119	128
Florida A&M	136	144			113	129
Appalachian State	103	107	120	119	121	129
Liberty			129	124	123	129
Little Rock	113	60	57	51		129
Marshall	95	104	107	122	119	133
Idaho			139			133
North Dakota State						133
Rhode Island	106	108	115	127	123
Utah Valley	106	108	115	127	123
UT Arlington		119	128	130	126
Albany	108	117	124	133	126
Long Beach State			134		126
UMBC	118	50	45	70
Pittsburgh	89	81	78	98
Charleston Southern	50	100	104	110
Drake				123
Kansas City	111	126	121	126
San Jose State		141	139	129
Monmouth	66	106	109
Yale	146	110	117
Northeastern	99	113	118
Loyola-Chicago		122	123
Saint Louis		127	124
Houston Christian		116	126
Tulane		129	127
Coppin State		134	132
Charlotte	139	131	138
Lipscomb	132	118	139
Northwestern State	129	138	139
Memphis	117	140
Illinois State	121	151
Queens (N.C.)	118
Dartmouth	124
Maine	125
Navy	126
William & Mary	137
Eastern Michigan	139
North Florida	141
Howard	142
Stephen F. Austin	142
Army West Point	144
UMES	144
Jackson State	146

Team

Week #1

Week #2

Week #3

Week #4

Week #5

Week #6

Week #7

FINAL

Southern California

Georgia

Auburn