Conference Championship Results Shake Up NCAA DIII National Rankings

NEW ORLEANS — If you thought the race for the top spots in NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field couldn’t get any more exciting, then you haven’t seen anything yet.

NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-Eau Claire UW-La Crosse UW-Whitewater Monmouth (Ill.) North Central (Ill.) 166.80 pts 165.69 pts 114.08 pts 98.57 pts 96.07 pts View Complete Men’s National Coaches’ Poll   NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Illinois-Wesleyan UW-La Crosse Washington (Mo.) UW-Eau Claire MIT 144.89 pts 119.64 pts 113.00 pts 111.99 pts 102.18 pts View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

The lead for the top-ranked UW-Eau Claire men dwindled to a season low, while the UW-La Crosse women and Washington (Mo.) women surged up the rankings to put pressure on the top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan women.

The newest National Team Computer Rankings were released Tuesday afternoon by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

We’ll start with the men’s rankings, where the Blugolds jumped 20.14 points from last week to put their gender-leading total at 166.80. UW-Eau Claire saw Darin Lau and Nick Petersson run their way into the top-10 of the 3000, Alex Mess take over the national lead in the shot put and its DMR team drop a sizzling time (9:57.37).

Not to be outdone, the Eagles added 33.91 points to last week’s tally, bringing them to 165.69 points — 1.11 behind their archrival. The conference championships were kind to UW-La Crosse as Alex Koenen (6.80 in the 60), Cyrus Mason (1:51.80 in the 800), Nathan Berg (18.21m/59-9 in the weight throw) and the 4×400 team all moved into the top-5 of their respective events nationally.

Let’s stay in the WIAC, where UW-Stevens Point put on a show. The Pointers rocketed from outside of the top-25 last week to No. 6 this week. This is the highest UW-Stevens Point has been ranked since 2013 (also sixth) and it can thank Jerry Williams‘ huge mark in the triple jump (14.88m/48-10) and Neil Pedersen‘s mile (4:08.93) for getting them there.

This past weekend was important to SUNY Cortland as well. The Red Dragons won the SUNYAC title and Dawan Jones moved into the top-3 nationally in the triple jump with a leap of 14.76m (48-5.25).

There were four other men’s teams that vaulted into the top-25 — No. 19 UW-River Falls, No. 23 Augustana (Ill.), No. 24 SUNY Geneseo and No. 25 Stockton.

For the first time this season, all of the women’s teams in the top-5 cracked the 100-point barrier. Top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan (123.06) and fifth-ranked MIT (102.18) were already there, but No. 2 UW-La Crosse (119.64), No. 3 WashU (113.00) and No. 4 UW-Eau Claire (111.99) joined them this week.

Both the Eagles and Bears used increases of 30 points or more to find themselves right behind the Titans.

UW-La Crosse received a pair of national-leading times this past weekend. Senior Meg Heafy went 24.86 in the 200, while senior Claire Gordee clocked an 8.66 in the 60 Hurdles. Autumn Miller moved into the top-5 of the shot put.

Washington (Mo.) went from No. 8 to No. 3 — the best ranking in program history — behind a big weekend from junior Daisy Ogede. She moved into third nationally in both the 60 (7.63) and 200 (25.11), then followed it up by being part of the nation’s second best 4×400 team.

North Central (Ill.) is back in the top-25 following a 14-spot jump from the previous week. The Cardinals, coming in at No. 16, saw Megan Costanzo (5000) and Madison Renfro (60 Hurdles) both notch top-3 times in their respective events.

Joining North Central (Ill.) as recent top-25 additions are 19th-ranked St. Thomas (Minn.), No. 21 Rowan, 23rd-ranked Central (Iowa) and No. 25 Wartburg.

The next set of rankings will come out on March 7 and those will serve as the pre-championship edition.