NJCAA DI Rankings Come Into Focus as Nationals Approach

NEW ORLEANS – With just over a week left until the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the battle lines have been drawn.

When the nation’s teams descend on Hutchinson, Kansas, on May 14-16, the program with the target on its back will be, as it has been for the better part of a decade, South Plains.

The eight-time defending men’s champion and defending women’s champion Texans are once again, as they have been all season long, the No. 1 teams in the penultimate edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Computer Rankings released Wednesday.

Next week’s final edition of the rankings will include only those athletes that are entered into the NJCAA Championships.

This week, based on all marks recorded during the 2015 season, South Plains’ men checked in at 767.43 points, while the women came in at 865.29. The team rankings scores are not equivalent to the NJCAA Championships scoring system, and a full breakdown of the USTFCCCA rankings formula can be found here.

Both squads are being chased by the most recent programs not named “South Plains” to claim outdoor national titles. At a distant No. 2 for the men is Central Arizona (584.72 points), which split the national title with the Texans in 2007 as the final title of three in a row. Also in the hunt is No. 3 Iowa Central CC (505.95).

Lurking at No. 2 in the women’s rankings is Iowa Central CC (697.31), which in 2013 won a national title to snap a streak of four SPC championships in a row.

A third tier of three contenders – as projected by the rankings (but that’s why they run the meets) – emerged for both genders.

For the men, No. 4 Barton County CC (391.23), No. 5 Iowa Western CC (367.85), and No. 6 Coffeyville CC (349.37) will all battle for top-five honors – as will a slew of teams ranging from No. 7 Monroe (298.72) through No. 14 Vincennes (203.12) that all checked in north of 200 points.

On the women’s side, only 33 points separate No. 3 New Mexico JC (538.78), No. 4 Coffeyville (513.52) and No. 5 Central Arizona (505.32). The latter two swapped spots from a week ago.

 As with the men, an additional group of teams from No. 6 Iowa Western CC (276.51) to No. 9 North Iowa Area CC (224.99) all posted scores of 200 points or better to work their way into the top-five discussion.