UW-La Crosse Extends Top-Ranked Streak Ahead of Conference Weekend

NEW ORLEANS – The end is deceptively near.  Though these are only the second set of NCAA Division III track & field team computer rankings—released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)—that do not include preseason data, they’re also the last before conference championships kick off in earnest this weekend.

One conference led both rankings.  The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men and women were ranked No. 1 for both genders for the sixth straight week.  For the third straight week, their WIAC rivals No. 2 UW-Eau Claire and No. 3 UW-Whitewater filled out the men’s top three, while Eau Claire moved up to a season-high No. 3 in the women’s rankings.

The top eight men’s teams all came from the Central, Midwest, and Great Lakes Regions: No. 4 Monmouth and No. 5 Augustana (both of Illinois) reprised their ranks from last week, while No. 6 St. Olaf moved up to its first top ten ranking since the DIII rankings began in 2010. No. 7 Wabash also hit its all-time best ranking, followed by No. 8 Mount Union.  The only two top ten schools from the coasts are No. 9 Whitworth and No. 10 SUNY Oneonta.

Olaf (up seven) and No. 11 UW-Oshkosh (up eight) were two of the biggest movers within the top twenty-five this week.  One men’s teams cracked the rankings for the first time: No. 20 Bates moved up eight slots after finishing third at the one-day NESCAC championships.

The women’s rankings saw way more turbulence.   Behind No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, No. 3 Eau Claire, No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan, and No. 5 MIT—all in relatively similar spots a week ago—four teams made double-digit jumps.

NCAA Division III Computer Rankings Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-La Crosse UW-Eau Claire UW-Whitewater Monmouth (Ill.) Augustana (Ill.) View Complete Men’s Computer Rankings NCAA Division III Computer Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-La Crosse Claremont-Mudd-Scripps UW-Eau Claire Illinois Wesleyan MIT View Complete Women’s Computer Rankings

Only one-hundred and sixty-four teams generated enough points to be ranked this week; among them, Birmingham-Southern was ranked one-hundred and fourth last week.  The Panthers leapfrogged eighty-eight teams all the way to No. 15 this week thanks to a blazing sprint quadruple from Tiarra Goode, who provided serious points from the 100, 200, 100 hurdles, and a 4×100 leg.

No. 12 Johns Hopkins and No. 21 St. Lawrence moved up eleven and ten ranks, respectively.  Right behind the Saints were their more earthly bretheren—the No. 22 Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops, up twenty-seven spots this week.

Fourteen of the sixteen regional top teams solidified their status. The Ithaca women took over as No. 1 in the Atlantic, and the Widener men ascended to No. 1 in the Mideast.

The DIII rankings will be released on Tuesdays between now and outdoor nationals.