Adams State, Lincoln (Mo.) Enter NCAA DII Championships as Favorites

NEW ORLEANS – The defending national champion Adams State men and the women of Lincoln (Mo.) will enter this weekend’s NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships as the favorites in the team races, according to the National Team Computer Rankings announced Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

NCAA Division II National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Adams State Tiffin GVSU Saint Augustine’s TAMU-Kingsville View Complete Men’s National Coaches’ Poll   NCAA Division II National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Lincoln (Mo.) Pittsburg St. NM Highlands Hillsdale GVSU View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

These rankings only take into account the entries into the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 11-12 in Pittsburg, Kansas. The rankings formula does not directly equate to the NCAA Championships scoring system, but the rankings are meant to project how teams will fare at NCAAs.

The Grizzlies (211.05 ranking points), going for their second title in a row, are projected to duel primarily with No. 2 Tiffin (178.54), No. 3 Grand Valley State (166.64), and No. 4 Saint Augustine’s for the national trophy.

Also very much in the hunt for the podium are No. 5 Texas A&M-Kingsville (108.76), No. 6 Academy of Art (106.24) and No. 7 Colorado Mines (93.50).

Lincoln (184.39) sits atop an even deeper women’s field. No. 2 Pittsburg State (146.87) will look to win its first national title on its home turf after falling to Lincoln at the MIAA Championships two weekends ago.

No. 3 New Mexico Highlands (128.89) moved up four spots from a week ago with Salcia Slack attempting a quadruple in the pentathlon, 60-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump.

No. 4 Hillsdale (115.15), No. 5 Grand Valley State (113.15), No. 6 Lewis (108.75) and No. 7 Johnson C. Smith (105.41) all checked in north of 100 points in the rankings, with No. 8 Alaska Anchorage just behind at 92.69.

Defending national champion Central Missouri (77.88) checked in at No. 9.

View the full rankings for men and women below.

Men’s Team Race Breakdown

Adams State will be relying heavily on the distance events this weekend. Of the Grizzlies’ 18 entries into the Championships – tied for the most in the country with GVSU – 13 come in the endurance races. That includes the top seeds in the mile, 3000 and 5000 (courtesy of Oliver Aitchison and Sydney Gidabuday), with six entries at 3000 meters and four in the mile.

GVSU, on the other hand, is the only team represented in every discipline across the board (sprints/hurdles, mid-distance, distance, relays, jumps, throws and combined events). The Lakers will be looking for big points in the weight throw, with four top-nine entries into the event led by top seed Darien Thornton.

No. 2 Tiffin and No. 4 Saint Augustine’s might be farther back in the total entries department with 13 apiece, but what they lack in quantity they make up in quality.

Tiffin will be looking for a third-consecutive sweep of the 60- and 200-meter titles from Lamar Hargrove, plus big points from shot put/weight throw contender Coy Blair.

Saint Augustine’s will lean heavily on the sprints with 10 of their entries coming from events under 400 meters (plus the 4×400 relay). The Falcons have big point-scoring opportunities at 200 and 400 meters with three entries apiece in those races.

No. 5 TAMU-Kingsville has by far the smallest margin of error with only six entries. Living up to and exceeding expectations is key for Kingsville as the Javelinas could walk away with four individual event titles from Jeron Robinson (No. 1 high jump), Lutalo Boyce (No. 1 long jump), Javier Lopez (No. 2 60 hurdles), and Jordan Yamoah (No. 4 pole vault). Robinson, Yamoah and Boyce are all former NCAA champions.

Academy of Art will rely on Mobolade Ajomale and Jordan Edwards to score big points in the sprints among the Urban Knights’ 10 entries, while Colorado Mines will draw upon its national champion cross country distance runners with eight of their 11 entries competing against Adams State and GVSU for points in the endurance events.

Women’s Team Race Breakdown

Should Lincoln (Mo.) follow up on its pre-meet favorite status with the national team title, it’ll be in very large part due to the performance of its sprinters. Of the Blue Tigers’ 13 entries into the Championships, nine will compete in events measuring 400 meters or shorter, along with the 4×400 relay.

The 200 will be a crucial event with Venicha Baker and Yanique Ellington ranked No. 2 and No. 3 going into the meet, as will be the 60-meter hurdles with favorite Ladonna Richards and No. 3 Chrisdale McCarthy.

Pittsburg State will compete at home with 11 entries, tied for fourth-most in the country with defending national champion Central Missouri. Of the top teams in contention, the Gorillas will depend the most by far on the field events to deliver the big trophy on Saturday.

Nine of PSU’s entries are in the field or combined events, led by top-seeded high jumper Emilee Iverson, three of the top eight shot putters (led by No. 3 Cassie Caswell and No. 4 Jena Black), and the No. 2 pentathlete in Emilyn Dearman.

New Mexico Highlands, as mentioned previously, will lean heavily on Salcia Slack, who accounts for half of the Cowgirls’ eight entries. Between the five components of her pentathlon and her individual events, she will compete as many as nine times throughout the weekend. She’ll need to get some additional points from sprinter Shanna Thomas and long jumper Shanice McPherson.

Eight of Hillsdale’s 12 entries are in the distance events, with No. 2 Emily Oren headlining four entries at 3000 meters, alone. Oren will have a big weekend ahead of her, entered in the mile and 3000, as well as the No. 3 distance medley relay.

GVSU has the most entries of any women’s team in the meet at 15. Seven of them come in the distance events, including three in that same 3000-meters race. In fact, that will be a significant event as No. 8 Alaska Anchorage also has two entrants in that race, along with another from No. 6 Lewis.

GVSU also boasts a bit of depth across the board with three sprinters/hurdlers, three throwers and a pair of jumpers.

Lewis will hope for strong showings from Amanda Farrough both at 3000 and 5000 meters, as well is from its four jumpers. Johnson C. Smith has five of its six total entries in the sprints/hurdles (and the 4×400 relay) while Alaska Anchorage has five of its entries in the distance events.