Pre-NJCAA DIII Championships National Rankings Revealed

NEW ORLEANS – With the NJCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Westfield, Massachusetts, set to get underway Saturday, the Rowan-Gloucester CC men and the Suffolk County CC women have been tabbed pre-meet favorites.

The final edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Rankings announced Thursday predict a tight men’s race between Rowan-Gloucester and Suffolk County CC, while the Suffolk women have some – but not much – breathing room ahead of a three-team chase pack.

Rowan-Gloucester’s men reclaimed the top spot in the rankings just one week after losing it to Suffolk. The race remains close, with RGCC checking in at 764.31 points to Suffolk County’s 708.71. The points don’t equate with the NJCAA Championships scoring system, but are instead used to compare depth with closer scrutiny.

No. 3 Harper (616.97), No. 4 Montgomery-Rockville (539.55) and No. 5 Howard CC (448.80) rounded out the top five.

Rowan-Gloucester has the slight advantage in total depth with 27 total entries ranked top-10 nationally (to 25 from No. 3 Harper and 24 for No. 2 Suffolk County) and in terms of individual/relay favorites with six top seeds (to Suffolk’s four and Harper’s three).

Suffolk County, however, is tops among all teams in the “entries seeded 1st, 2nd or 3rd” category with 12 total. Both Rowan-Gloucester and No. 4 Montgomery-Rockville checked in with nine in that category, while Harper has seven.

The race for the women’s title is as close – Suffolk County comes in at 906.86 points to Harper’s 749.44 – but anything can happen on any given day in track & field.

Last week’s top five remains the same with No. 3 Rowan-Gloucester (674.98), No. 4 Prince George’s CC (651.50) and reigning national champion No. 5 Mohawk Valley CC (402.77) all holding steady.

Suffolk County leads all teams both in terms of entries ranked 10th or better with 32 and in terms of athletes seeded top-three with 14.

Next up in the first category is Harper with 27, Rowan-Gloucester with 25 and Prince George’s with 24. Both Harper and Prince George’s checked in with 11 top-three entries each.

Prince George’s will be relying most heavily on its frontrunners, with five entries ranked No. 1 entering the championships.

Beyond the top five, the No. 9 Herkimer County CC men and the No. 10 Finger Lakes CC men made the biggest moves in the final pre-Championships rankings with seven-spot increases.

The No. 14 Finger Lakes CC women and No. 17 Triton both moved up four spots for the biggest jumps of the women’s rankings.