New No. 1 Headlines NCAA DIII Women’s ITF Rankings
NEW ORLEANS — What can one athlete’s breakthrough performance do for her team in the USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings? One look at the most recent rankings in NCAA Division III Women’s Indoor Track & Field can reveal the answer.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
MIT returns to the top spot for the first time since Week 3 of 2016. The Engineers were ranked No. 4 in the preseason, but Nneoma Okonkwo’s effort in the long jump this past weekend allowed them to leapfrog Williams, UW-Eau Claire and previous-No. 1 Washington (Mo.).
Okonkwo soared 5.90m (19-4¼) on January 21 and that shot her to No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings, which are used to assign point totals to athletes and in turn, teams. It was an indoor and wind-legal personal best for her by 34 centimeters and 13 centimeters, respectively.
|
MIT now has a total of 130.80 points compared to Washington (Mo.)’s 126.34. UW-Eau Claire isn’t too far behind in 3rd with 121.12 and Williams is a distant 4th at 110.87.
Looking further down the rankings you’ll find Oberlin at a program-high 12th. This is the highest the Yeowomen have been ranked in program history, topping their old mark of 23rd set last year. Oberlin has a tremendous 1-2 punch in the field with Monique Newton handling the shot put and Naeisha McClain in the weight throw.
George Fox moved up 13 spots to 21st, its highest ranking in the past four years. The Bruins’ best high-water mark in program history is 19th and if Rachael Kraske (60 hurdles) and Annie Wright (pentathlon) continue to progress, they’ll find their way in the top-15 in no time.
Bridgewater (Va.) is in the top-25 for the first time in program history and has Amber Celen to thank. Celen moved up to 4th in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings for the long jump after this past weekend.
We’ll find out who the team to beat is on March 10-11 at the 2017 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships. They’ll be held in Naperville, Illinios.
USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings will come out during the indoor season until March 6, as they’ll serve as the pre-championship edition.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division III |
|||||
Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
|||||
2017 Week #1 — January 24 |
|||||
| next ranking: January 31 | |||||
| Rank | Institution | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
| 1 | MIT | 130.80 | NEWMAC | Halston Taylor (10th) | 4 |
| 2 | Washington (Mo.) | 126.34 | UAA | Jeff Stiles (16th) | 1 |
| 3 | UW-Eau Claire | 121.12 | WIAC | Chip Schneider (11th) | 2 |
| 4 | Williams | 110.87 | NESCAC | Nate Hoey (4th) | 3 |
| 5 | Ithaca | 87.64 | Empire 8 | Jennifer Potter (14th) | 5 |
| 6 | Nebraska Wesleyan | 84.03 | IIAC | Ted Bulling (30th) | 6 |
| 7 | Johns Hopkins | 76.70 | Centennial | Bobby Van Allen (18th) | 7 |
| 8 | SUNY Oneonta | 65.32 | SUNYAC | Brett Willmott (1st) | 8 |
| 9 | Chicago | 60.75 | UAA | Chris Hall (16th) | 10 |
| 10 | Illinois Wesleyan | 56.42 | CCIW | Chris Schumacher (20th) | 9 |
| 11 | UW-Stout | 52.44 | WIAC | Kyle Steiner (4th) | 11 |
| 12 | Oberlin | 51.44 | NCAC | Ray Appenheimer (11th) | 21 |
| 13 | UW-Platteville | 50.21 | WIAC | Chris Rotzenberg (5th) | 12 |
| 14 | UW-La Crosse | 49.57 | WIAC | Pat Healy (26th) | 13 |
| 15 | Misericordia | 49.47 | Middle Atlantic | Chris Wadas (11th) | 14 |
| 16 | Westminster (Pa.) | 49.16 | PAC | Tim McNeil (10th) | 15 |
| 17 | RPI | 48.83 | Liberty League | Colin Tory (17th) | 16 |
| 18 | Ohio Northern | 47.28 | OAC | Jason Maus (11th) | 20 |
| 19 | St. Norbert | 44.95 | Midwest Conference | Don Augustine (10th) | 17 |
| 20 | St. Lawrence | 41.75 | Liberty League | Kate Curran (9th) | 19 |
| 21 | George Fox | 40.05 | Northwest Conference | John Smith (11th) | 34 |
| 22 | Bridgewater (Va.) | 39.47 | ODAC | Brian Flynn (2nd) | 27 |
| 23 | Aurora | 37.04 | NACC | Brandon Sturman (1st) | 22 |
| 24 | UW-Oshkosh | 36.78 | WIAC | Ben Dorsey (5th) | 18 |
| 25 | Bates | 35.89 | NESCAC | Jay Hartshorn (12th) | 24 |
| dropped out: No. 23 Loras, No. 25 SUNY Geneseo | |||||
| View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 | |||||
| Women’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | WIAC | 343.61 | 5 |
| 2 | NESCAC | 255.05 | 2 |
| 3 | UAA | 221.31 | 2 |
| 4 | IIAC | 179.72 | 1 |
| 5 | NEWMAC | 178.69 | 1 |
| 6 | SUNYAC | 161.14 | 1 |
| 7 | CCIW | 120.38 | 1 |
| 8 | Middle Atlantic | 102.78 | 1 |
| 9 | Centennial | 94.95 | 1 |
| 10 | Liberty League | 92.62 | 2 |
| Women’s Regional Ranking Leaders | |||
| Region | Institution | Points | Last Week |
| Atlantic | Ithaca | 365.03 | |
| Central | Nebraska Wesleyan | 457.03 | |
| Great Lakes | Oberlin | 286.92 | |
| Mideast | Johns Hopkins | 460.31 | |
| Midwest | Washington (Mo.) | 300.55 | |
| New England | MIT | 426.52 | |
| South/Southeast | Emory | 543.91 | |
| West | Whitworth | 536.34 | |
| View All Regional Rankings | |||
