Top Teams in Outdoor T&F Division II National Team Rankings Hold Steady

NEW ORLEANS – With little more than three weeks remaining before the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships, both the No. 1 Saint Augustine’s men and the No. 1 Grand Valley State women built on their leads in the DII National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Defending outdoor champion Saint Augustine’s put some ground between itself and No. 2 Adams State after a strong showing at the Penn Relays, with Ashland moving further into the discussion at the top with a jump to No. 3. Meanwhile, GVSU inched farther ahead of the No. 2 Adams State women.

Already the national triple jump leader for Saint Augustine’s (275.36 team rankings score), DeJon Wilkinson’s Penn Relays performance also boosted him into the top spot in the long jump. Teammate David Shaw also moved into the top 10 in both horizontal jump events to give the Falcons’ team rankings score a 13-point boost from last week.

Team rankings scores do not mirror the points systems used at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but rather measure team depth based on their student-athletes’ positioning on the national descending order lists.

Adams State (231.22) fell seven points, while Ashland (197.92) moved up a spot to No. 3 with a 21-point improvement behind third-ranked 100-meter hurdler Elijha Owens and fifth-ranked discus thrower Kyle Steinhauser.

Men’s Top Five 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Saint Augustine’s 275.36 pts Adams State 231.22 pts Ashland 197.92 pts TAMU-Kingsville 170.10 pts Chico State 118.52 pts View Complete Men’s Rankings

No. 4 Texas A&M-Kingsville (170.10) fell one spot, with Chico State (118.52) holding steady to round out the top five.

Both Saint Augustine’s and Adams State led the way with seven top-three nationally ranked individual/relay performers, followed by TAMU-Kingsville with five and Ashland’s four.

The Falcons topped the total top-10 performers list with 16, while Adams State and Ashland came in with 13 and Texas A&M-Kingsville with 10.

A breakdown of top-10 performers by team can be found here.

Women’s Top Five 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) GVSU 221.89 pts Adams St. 193.27 pts Johnson C. Smith 160.44 pts Lincoln (Mo.) 148.93 pts Ashland 142.39 pts View Complete Women’s Rankings

The race at the top of the women’s rankings remained close, with both No. 1 Grand Valley State (221.89) and No. 2 Adams State (193.27) only marginally improving their team scores.

Despite National Athlete of the Week Samantha Elliott’s Penn Relays 400-meter hurdles win, her No. 3 Johnson C. Smith squad (160.44) lost some ground to the top two while both No. 4 Lincoln (Mo.) (148.93) and No. 5 Ashland (142.39) moved up one spot and drew closer.

GVSU’s 15 top-10 performers is the most in the nation over Adams State’s 12 and No. 8 Angelo State’s 10, and the Lakers have three performers ranked in the top three nationally — well short of the national lead.

That list is topped by Johnson C. Smith with eight top-three performers, followed by Adams State and No. 6 Saint Augustine’s with five each.

A breakdown of top-10 performers by team can be found here.

Southern Indiana’s No. 22 men were the biggest gainers of the week with an 18-position improvement, while No. 10 Pittsburg State moved up the farthest on the women’s side with an eight-spot jump.

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.