Saint Augustine’s Takes Control of NCAA DII National Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – For the fourth week in a row, new men’s and women’s teams climbed atop the NCAA Division II National Team Computer Rankings – and if recent history is any indicator, one of them could be there to stay.

The three-time defending national champion men of Saint Augustine’s replaced Texas A&M-Kingsville atop the men’s rankings – announced Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) – and they were joined at No. 1 by the Saint Augustine’s women.

With a majority of teams around the country having now finally made their opening salvos of the 2016 outdoor campaign, the rankings are now in the early stages of showing how the national team title races could play out.

The Falcons (217.43 points) checked in with a sizeable lead over TAMU-Kingsville (157.60), with No. 3 Grand Valley State (130.71), No. 4 Chico State (105.30) and No. 5 Alaska Anchorage (99.53) rounding out the top five for the men.

Behind the SAU women (182.52 points), Johnson C. Smith (165.26) dropped one spot followed by No. 3 Shorter (119.24), No. 4 Grand Valley State (113.46) and No. 5 Chico State (112.08).

Reigning national champion Central Missouri checked in at No. 6, while indoor champion Lincoln (Mo.) has yet to debut in earnest.

The SAU men are characteristically strong in the sprints, hurdles and relays – national leads in both the 4×100 and 4×400 and six top-10 performers in the individual events – but the 800-meter duo of No. 1 Shaquille Dill and No. 3 Immanuel Hutchinson delivered big points for the Falcons this weekend.

The Falcons got a pair of top-10 performers in two more events this weekend: the 100 (No. 3 Burkheart Ellis, Jr., and No. 5 Daniel Jamieson) and the triple jump (No. 3 David Shaw and No. 8 Jumonne Exeter).

SAU is looking to become the first team to win more than three consecutive national titles since Abilene Christian won seven in a row from 2002 through 2008. Saint Augustine’s itself won seven in a row from 1990 through 1995.

The SAU women added defending national 400-meter hurdles champion Tia-Adana Belle back into the mix in a big way, as she earned National Athlete of the Week honors for her college-leading 56.34 at the Florida Relays.

The Falcons also got the No. 1 4×400 relay, the No. 2 time at 100 meters from Ornella Livingston and the No. 4 effort in the 100-meter hurdles from Shamia Lassiter.

The National Team Computer Rankings are complied by a mathematical formula based on national descending order lists. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points.

A full description of the rankings can be found here.