USTFCCCA National Team Rankings Project NAIA Title Defenses for Indiana Tech Men & Women

NEW ORLEANS – The defending NAIA outdoor track & field national champion Indiana Tech men and women are in position to reclaim their team titles in 2014, per the final U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NAIA National Team Computer Rankings released Monday.

After taking the top spots in both the men’s and women’s rankings a week ago, the Warrior men and women boosted their positions at No. 1 following the announcement of the accepted entries into the NAIA Championships this weekend in Gulf Shores, Ala., from May 22-24 — which can be streamed live online at NAIA.org.

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 men of Indiana Tech were the biggest beneficiary in the nation of the switch from using the national descending order lists as the basis of the rankings to the accepted entries into the meet.

Based on how many entries each team has and how highly they are ranked, the Warrior men checked in with a team rankings score of 567.15 after a nearly 70-point growth from last week – well ahead of No. 2 Concordia (Ore.) at 419.58.

Men’s Top Five 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Indiana Tech 567.15 pts Concordia (Ore.) 419.58 pts Wayland Baptist 373.59 pts Concordia (Neb.) 337.29 pts Southern Oregon 253.10 pts View Complete Men’s Rankings

Team rankings points do not equate to NAIA Championships team points scored at the national meet, but rather the number of student-athletes a team has near the top of the descending order list in their resepctive events and how highly they are ranked.

A full explanation of the points system used in the National Team Computer Rankings can be found here.

This gain comes as the result of Indiana Tech’s nation-leading 30 entries into the meet, 18 of which come in the sprints and hurdles. Further strengthening their cause are the 24 entries ranked within the top 10 of their events, an amount itself greater than any other team’s total entries.

Concordia (Ore.) moved up two spots from last week, and will enter just ahead of stationary No. 3 Wayland Baptist (Texas) (373.59) and No. 4 Concordia (Neb.) (337.29). Southern Oregon (253.10) moved one spot back into the top five.

No. 4 Concordia (Neb.) qualified 23 entries into the championships, followed closely by No. 2 Concordia (Ore.) with 22. Both No. 3 Wayland Baptist and No. 5 Southern Oregon both advanced 15 entries into the championships.

Wayland Baptist has the edge in top-ranked performers with six entries earning top seeds led by top-ranked long & triple jumper Wayne Northover, while Concordia (Ore.) has three No. 1 entries and Indiana Tech and Southern Oregon are the only two other top-five teams with multiple top seeds with two apiece.

Women’s Top Five 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Indiana Tech 635.06 pts Oklahoma Baptist 482.63 pts British Columbia 452.66 pts Doane (Neb.) 377.70 pts Wayland Baptist 252.48 pts View Complete Women’s Rankings

On the women’s side, the Indiana Tech Warriors opened up a significant advantage. A 36-point gain moved Tech up to a team score of 635.06, while a sizeable 124-point plummet by now-No. 3 British Columbia (452.66) and a 38-point drop from new No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist compounded for a more than 150-point edge for the Warriors.

The chasm in the rankings between Indiana Tech and the field can be attributed to the Warriors’ whopping 39 entries into the championships – 15 better than the 25 from both No. 3 British Columbia and No. 4 Doane (377.70) and 18 more than Oklahoma Baptist.

Rounding out the top five was Wayland Baptist (Texas) (252.48), just ahead of No. 6 College of Idaho (249.67) and Concordia (Neb.) (245.07).

Indiana Tech may hold the advantage in top-10 ranked entries with 22 to BC’s 16 and OBU’s 14, it is OBU that enters with an edge in top-three ranked entries, 10 to IT’s nine. Of those 10 for Oklahoma Baptist, seven are the top seeds with Jura Levy (100/200) and Akela Jones (100H/LJ, also no. 2 HJ) leading the way.