Two New No. 1 Teams in NCAA DIII Rankings

NEW ORLEANS — Once many of the marks from the previous year were removed from the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings on Tuesday, one thing was clear: North Central (Ill.) and Washington (Mo.) are the teams to beat — and it’s not even close.

NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) North Central (Ill.) UW-La Crosse Occidental UW-Whitewater Monmouth (Ill.) 157.00 pts 105.88 pts 104.75 pts 99.08 pts 97.84 pts View Complete Men’s National Team Computer Rankings   NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Washington (Mo.) Nebraska Wesleyan Claremont-Mudd-Scripps UW-La Crosse UW-Oshkosh 190.23 pts 140.19 pts 128.83 pts 113.84 pts 106.09 pts View Complete Women’s National Team Computer Rankings

When primarily using marks from the current season, the Cardinal men and the Bear women firmly took control of the No. 1 spots, unseating both UW-La Crosse teams.

North Central (Ill.) used a 120.80-point swing to vault from sixth to first. The Cardinals totaled 157.00 points in the rankings, compared to just 105.88 for the Eagles. This is the first time since Week 2 of 2013 that North Central (Ill.) has been ranked No. 1 by the USTFCCCA computers.

Then in the women’s rankings, WashU was one of three teams to jump over UW-La Crosse — but no others soared higher. The Bears have a 50.04-point lead on second-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is third, followed by the previously top-ranked Eagles in fourth.

This is the first time in program history that WashU has been ranked first. The Bears’ previous best came the last three weeks, where they’ve been seeded second.

If you’re wondering what allowed the Cardinals to seize the No. 1 ranking, it’s quite simple: Luke Winder is doing Luke Winder Things and North Central (Ill.) has a squadron of strong distance runners.

Winder is currently the top-ranked pole vaulter in DIII after clearing the second best mark in DIII history (5.50m/18-½). Aron Sebhat (2nd, 1500), Ken Hoffman (2nd, steeple), Ethan Adlfinger (5th, steeple) and Zach Plank (5th, 5000 and 10000) all moved up the national chart this past weekend.

Falling in behind the Cardinals are the aforementioned Eagles, third-ranked Occidental, now fourth-ranked UW-Whitewater and now fifth-ranked Monmouth (Ill.). Rowan and UW-Platteville both moved up the top-10 to sixth and seventh, respectively, while MIT and Augustana (Ill.) jumped more than 10 spots each to eighth and ninth in the nation, respectively.

Now taking a look at the women’s rankings, WashU’s rise is closely tied to what Daisy Ogede does and the program’s relay teams. This past weekend, Ogede moved into the No. 1 spot in both the 100 (11.78) and 200 (24.21), while the 4×100 and 4×400 teams are both the top-ranked units in their event group.

The final piece to the top-5 puzzle in the women’s rankings is UW-Oshkosh. The Titans went from No. 12 last week to No. 5 this week thanks to three top-6 outings at this past weekend’s meets.

There were three total teams in the rankings that climbed 29 spots each, making them the Movers of the Week. First we have the UW-Stout men (No. 48 to No. 29). And then there are two women’s teams — RPI (No. 41 to No. 12) and Chicago (No. 52 to No. 23).

The 2016 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held May 26-28 in Waverly, Iowa, which is exactly one month from now.