Shake It Up: Big Changes In NCAA DI Women’s Rankings

NEW ORLEANS — The winds of change swept through the NCAA Division I Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings in a big way this week.

NCAA Division I National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Arkansas Kentucky Oregon Texas Florida 295.85 pts 284.02 pts 283.85 pts 259.07 pts 247.38 pts View Complete Women’s National Team Computer Rankings

Out of the 25 teams in the aptly-named top-25 last week, only two remained in place — 17th-ranked Baylor and 21st-ranked Oklahoma State. So what about the other 23 in the rankings that were released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)?

Based on marks collected from only this season, Arkansas is the top-ranked team in the nation with 295.85 points. The Razorbacks were No. 1 in Week 1 and Week 2 before being supplanted by Oregon last week. This is the sixth time in the past two years that Arkansas has been ranked No. 1.

The Razorbacks reclaimed the top spot thanks to the efforts of Alexis Weeks, Payton Stumbaugh and Taylor Ellis-Watson. Weeks took over the national lead in the pole vault with a jump of 4.64m (15-2¾), while Stumbaugh (100 hurdles) and Ellis-Watson (200 meters) each moved up to second in their respective events.

Kentucky soared six spots from last week and settled in behind Arkansas at No. 2. This is the best ranking the Wildcats have received in program history, topping the old mark of third that they achieved Week 9 last year.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (100 hurdles), Kiah Seymour (400 hurdles), Destiny Carter (long jump) and Sha’Keela Saunders (long jump) all had their hand in Kentucky’s rise. Each of those four athletes stood out this past weekend at the Virginia Challenge in their respective events.

The newly-minted Razorbacks and Wildcats won’t have to wait to mix it up. They’ll be joined at this weekend’s LSU Invitational by No. 5 Florida, the sixth-ranked Tigers, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 15 Miami (Fla.).

The aforementioned Ducks fell from No. 1 last week to No. 3 this week. Texas, led by new-and-improved collegiate record holder Courtney Okolo (400 meters, 49.71), moved up three spots to No. 4 this week, matching its ranking from Week 1.

Elsewhere in the top-10, Southern California dropped from No. 4 to No. 7, while Kansas State jumped from No. 10 to No. 8. Tennessee bettered its ranking last week by seven spots this week (No. 16 to No. 9) and 10th-ranked Harvard became the first women’s team from the Ivy League to be ranked in the top-10.

With those two new teams in the top-10, two had to fall out to make way for them and those were the Aggies and 13th-ranked Georgia. This is the first time in team history that Texas A&M has been ranked outside the top-10.

Arizona (No. 18), Wisconsin (No. 19) and Auburn (No. 20) all took up residence in the top-20 and Nebraska (No. 23), Mississippi (No. 24) and Michigan State (No. 26) all joined the top-25.