Two New Teams Take Over Top Spots Of NCAA DIII Outdoor T&F Dual Meet Rankings
NEW ORLEANS — The NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Dual Meet Rankings keep evolving.
As more teams open their seasons, the more teams find themselves in contention for that coveted No. 1 spot.
This week, the George Fox men and the Whitworth women ascended to the top of the rankings.
QUICK LINKS: Men’s Rankings | Women’s Rankings
In the men’s rankings, the Bruins own a 8.53-point lead over second-ranked Rowan. Last week’s No. 1 team, Rose-Hulman, fell to No. 3, more than 10 points behind George Fox. Rounding out the top-5 are the Whitworth men and Ohio Northern.
As a side note, fewer than five points separate the fifth-ranked team (Ohio Northern) from the 10th-ranked one (Salisbury).
Now taking a look at the women’s rankings, the Pirates shot ahead of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Whitworth tallied 190.31 points, compared to the Athenas’ 180.64. Ohio Northern maintained its No. 3 ranking and it’s followed by Emory and Ithaca.
The full rankings — including breakdowns by region, conference and head-to-head matchups — can be found on D3Rankings.us.
These rankings, compiled by Carnegie Mellon’s Gary Aldrich and released every Wednesday during the season, differ from the USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings in one important respect.
While the USTFCCCA Rankings are designed to forecast how programs might fare at the NCAA Championships, these Team Dual Meet Rankings are indicative of how full teams with two athletes per event would fare in head-to-head competition.
Scores are the sums of all points earned by a team in each event. Only two athletes per team may be considered in each event (and one relay team per event), and an athlete can only be used in up to three events, excluding relays. Points are based on the best marks by those athletes in the current season.
Programs must be a member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association to be eligible for the rankings. You can check your membership status here. In addition, a member of that program’s coaching staff has to submit the marks to the rankings.
