Big Movers In NCAA DII Women’s Week 3 ITF Rankings

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NEW ORLEANS – Darren Flowers has his team on a mission, as West Texas A&M crept into the top-five of the Women’s National Division II Team Rankings for the first time in program history on Tuesday, as released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Competing in a dual meet at the Grizzly Buffalo Crash against another big mover in Adams State – who rose three spots to second place – Flowers’ squad used the solid competition at high altitudes to move up from ninth place from a week ago.

NCAA Division II National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Grand Valley State	Adams State	Pittsburg State	West Texas A&M	Chadron State
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The Buffaloes literally jumped its way into the top-five, as jumpers Rellie Kaputin and Cayli Yarbrough are largely responsible for the program’s move. Kaputin, a native of Papua New Guinea, recorded the third-best long jump of the season in DII last Friday, leaping 6.01m (19-8 3/4). After this past weekend, Yarbrough is now tied with Kaputin for ninth-place in DII in the long jump with a mark of 1.70m (5-7).

Adams State – who also sits in second place in the men’s DII poll – saw two runners in Sunayna Wahi and Jenna Thurman record top-two DII finishes overall during the meet against West Texas A&M. Wahi posted a time of 7.47 in the 60 meter dash, good for first place in all of DII. Thurman ran the second-best 800 meter run of the season in DII with a time of 2:07.48. In addition to the aforementioned individuals, the Grizzlies distance medley relay team notched the fastest time in DII on the season with a finish of 11:26.86.

Joining Adams State and West Texas A&M in the top-five were Grand Valley State – who remained in first place for the third-straight week – Pittsburg State (third) and Chadron State (fifth). The latter two teams dropped one spot each from the previous week.

More Info NCAA Division II Rankings Central
NATIONAL PDFs Top 25 | By Team | By Event Top TFRRS Qualifiers # of Top-10 Athletes by Team Rankings History This Season By Rank | All-Time	REGIONAL PDFs Top 10 | By Team | By Event #EventSquad Rankings Top-16 Summary Full Reports: By Team | By Event

Rounding out the top-10 were Minnesota State, Minnesota Duluth, Western State, Central Missouri and Azusa Pacific.

U-Mary made a massive jump from 54th all the way up to 11th, which is just one spot below their preseason rank of 10th. At the Bison Open in Fargo, North Dakota, this past weekend, Alexis Zeis notched the top time in the 3000 meters in DII on the year with a time of 9:17.61, while a pair of 60 hurdlers in Tonie Pandohie (8.54) and Maria Bolibruch (8.62) moved to second and 10th in the DII rankings, respectively. The Marauders 4 x 400 meter relay squad also notched the sixth-fastest mark in DII on the year at 3:48.61.

Three other squads in Angelo State (17th), Cedarville (19th) and Shippensburg (24th) made double-digit moves into the top-25 this week thanks to DII season bests for each team.

Angelo State jumped 36 spots after Kami Norton’s DII-top mark in the pentathlon on the year with a score of 3,934. Cedarville gained 23 spots after Carsyn Koch recorded the top 800 meter mark in DII at the Joe Banks Invitational over the weekend with a time of 2:05.93. Shippensburg made its season-debut in the top-25 with a 14-spot increase thanks to Sarah Hunt’s long jump mark of 6.11m (20-1/2) at the SU Challenge.

The 2017 NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 10-11. Be sure to check www.USTFCCCA.org throughout the season to see how the rankings change between now and then.

Women’s #EventSquad Leaders (Best Foursome in the Country By Event)