Iowa Central Tops 2016 Debut of NJCAA National Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – The past four years in NJCAA Indoor Track & Field has amounted to a “tug-of-war” between South Plains College and Iowa Central CC. Last year it was South Plains that swept both the men’s and women’s national team titles. The year before that, it was Iowa Central. In 2013 it was South Plains, and in 2012 it was Iowa Central.

Play out the pattern to its next logical step and Iowa Central is in position to sweep the 2016 titles once again – a conclusion supported by the first National Rankings of the 2016 season announced Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

There’s much work to do before the NJCAA Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on March 4-5, but the Triton men are early-season overwhelming favorites while the ICCC women are in a much tighter race with New Mexico JC.

The USTFCCCA National Rankings are generated using the 2016 national descending order lists from TFRRS. Athletes and relay teams are assigned more points based on how highly they are ranked in their respective event(s). Each team is assigned a team score based on the sum of its athletes’ point totals.

The National Rankings formula is not equivalent to the NJCAA Championships scoring system.

Using that procedure, the computers picked the Iowa Central women (378.40 points) as the comparatively narrow favorite over New Mexico JC (325.10).

The Tritons, led by national athlete of the week Leanne Pompeani and standout sprinter/hurdler Danielle Riggins, have logged 25 top-10 performances – including eight top-three marks.

While NMJC only has 18 top-10 performances – the same number as No. 3 Monroe – the Thunderbirds lead the nation with nine top-three-ranked marks, including the top two triple jumpers in Tamara Moncrieffe and Latavia Coombs.

Monroe checked in third, followed by No. 4 Iowa Western CC and No. 5 Barton County CC. Defending national champ South Plains came in at No. 6.

In stark contrast to the women’s race, Iowa Central has a commanding lead over the field in the men’s rankings. Behind a whopping 33 top-10-ranked performances (no other team has more than 17 so far) and 16 top-three marks (no other team has more than six), the Tritons amassed a staggering 574.92 points – well ahead of No. 2 Barton County CC with 248.54.

Iowa Central has an athlete or relay team ranked in the top eight in all but three events contested at the NJCAA Championships.

Iowa Western checked in at No. 3, with No. 4 Coffeyville CC and No. 5 South Plains rounding out the top five.