New Faces Take Over NCAA DIII National Rankings As Regular Season Draws To A Close

NEW ORLEANS — Who are the best teams to date this season in NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field?

NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-Eau Claire UW-Whitewater UW-La Crosse Mount Union Monmouth (Ill.) 133.47 pts 93.25 pts 93.24 pts 87.73 pts 87.10 pts View Complete Men’s National Coaches’ Poll   NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Illinois-Wesleyan MIT SUNY-Oneonta UW-Eau Claire UW-La Crosse 142.79 pts 104.25 pts 98.34 pts 96.88 pts 93.61 pts View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

Well, the National Team Computer Rankings as released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) were designed to figure that out.

According to the rankings, when you take all of the marks from the current season into account, the UW-Eau Claire men (133.47 points) and the Illinois Wesleyan women (142.79) are the clubhouse favorites. The Blugolds own a 40.22-point advantage over second-ranked UW-Whitewater, while the Titans lead second-ranked MIT by 38.54 points.

Points in the National Team Computer Rankings are based off placement in the National Descending Order Lists. The higher an athlete sits on the list, the more points he or she adds to his or her team’s total. These points do not reflect placement or scoring at the NCAA Championships, but is to show the individuals and teams that have the best chances at scoring well at said meet.

Note: The National Team Computer Rankings should not be referred to as a "poll" since no voting occurs during the process.

In the men’s rankings, both UW-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater jumped previous-No. 1 UW-La Crosse, which fell to No. 3. Mount Union remained in place at No. 4, while Monmouth (Ill.) improved three spots to No. 5 and captured its best ranking in program history.

This past weekend the Blugolds watched their distance runners — namely Josh Thorson, Darin Lau and Nick Petersson — rise to the occasion. Thorson, Lau and Petersson all competed in the 5000 at the St. Thomas (Minn.) Showcase, swept the top-3 places and moved up to third, fourth and fifth in DIII, respectively.

For the Warhawks, sophomore sprinter Parker Witt continued his strong season as he ran DIII’s fifth fastest time of the season in the 200. The efforts of sophomore jumper Robert Starnes (top marks in the high jump and long jump) can’t go unnoticed, either.

Monmouth (Ill.) has three individuals — and one relay team — listed in the season’s top-5 to bolster their case. Junior sprinter Ethan Reschke is third and fifth in the 200 and 400, while senior James Wilson is second and fourth in the long jump and 200. Both Reschke and Wilson contribute to the program’s third best 4×400 relay.

Two other big movers in the top-10 were MIT (up 15 spots to No. 7) and Widener (up 10 spots to No. 10). A pair of strong relay teams (4×400, DMR) propel the Engineers and the Pride is urged forward by its field events.

Elsewhere in the top-25, Puget Sound (No. 65 to No. 22), SUNY Oneonta (No. 43 to No. 23) and UW-Stout (No. 38 to No. 24) all trended in the right direction. That’s the best ranking in program history for Puget Sound.

Now looking at the women’s rankings, Illinois Wesleyan overtook the Engineers thanks to the efforts of sophomore jumper Amelia Glueck. She soared 5.78m (18-11.75) in the long jump and captured the national lead, giving the Titans a big boost. Glueck owns one of Illinois Wesleyan’s six top-5 marks in DIII (the only other top-ranked athlete is Nia Joiner in the 60).

But what about those Red Dragons, jumping seven spots in the rankings and earning its best billing in program history? Junior Rachel Shine is a big reason for that as she’s ranked first in the 800, third in the mile and anchors the second fastest DMR team this season in DIII.

Another team inching its way closer to the top is that of Washington (Mo.). The Bears went from No. 17 to No. 8 and have three highly-ranked events — 4×400 relay (No. 2), Daisy Ogede in the 200 (No. 3) and Emily Warner in the 800 (No. 5).

No teams in the top-10 stayed in place from the past week. Outside of those aforementioned teams, UW-Eau Claire went from No. 6 to No. 4, UW-La Crosse went from No. 3 to No. 5, Nebraska Wesleyan went from No. 9 to No. 6, Baldwin Wallace fell two spots to No. 7, Stevens is now No. 9 and UW-Oskhosh is No. 10.

Middlebury and St. Norbet followed each other up the ranking as they both climbed 16 spots. The Panthers came in at No. 13 for its best ranking in three years, while the Green Knights are No. 14 and are the highest they’ve ever been.

There are five other additions to the top-25 as well — No. 19 Denison, No. 21 Bowdoin, No. 22 Rowan, No. 23 Oberlin and No. 24 UMass Boston.

Coming up in less than four weeks’ time will be the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, held March 11-12 in Grinnell, Iowa.