Iowa Central Women Move to No. 1 in NJCAA National Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – With just less than three weeks remaining until the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships (March 6-7 in Albuquerque, New Mexico), the Iowa Central women have taken over the No. 1 spot in the National Team Computer Rankings.

The defending national champion Tritons pulled past former No. 1 South Plains in the week four edition of the rankings released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Meanwhile on the men’s side, No. 2 Central Arizona made up a significant amount of ground on No. 1 South Plains, but the Texans remained substantially far ahead of the Vaqueros. Those two topped a group of teams ranked Nos. 1-6 that remained steady from a week ago: No. 3 Iowa Central, No. 4 Iowa Western, No. 5 Western Texas and No. 6 ASA College.

The Iowa Central women posted an impressive 23 season’s best performances this weekend at the Tyson Invitational and South Dakota State Invitational, including nine performances ranked among the top five in their events.

South Plains was bypassed despite an NJCAA indoor 400-meter record from National Athlete of the Week Chrisann Gordon at Tyson.

The Iowa Central-South Plains swap wasn’t the only shake-up in the women’s top-five. Central Arizona moved up to No. 3, replacing New Mexico JC. Coffeyville remained No. 5.

Central Arizona’s men notched 12 season’s best performances that impacted the national rankings at New Mexico’s Don Kirby Elite to close the gap between them and South Plains. Among those performances was a nation-leading mile from Harry Mulenga.

Making the biggest move of the week were the No. 15 DuPage women, up nine spots from a week ago. The No. 18 Meridian CC men and No. 17 Cuyahoga CC women both moved up five positions.