2017 NCAA DIII Women’s Outdoor Team Rankings – Week 1

NOTE: Only USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for rankings. Please check your membership status HERE.

NEW ORLEANS – It’s been a relatively quiet start to the NCAA Division III Women’s Outdoor Track & Field season, at least according to the National Team Computer Rankings.

The most recent rankings were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and only two new teams joined the top-25. That means all that changed was the order of the 23 others than remained in the poll since the preseason.

Washington (Mo.) remains the odds-on favorite to collect its second NCAA team title of 2017. The Bears won the indoor team title last month and increased its lead by 7.86 points in Week 1.

Williams jumped two spots from No. 5 to No. 3 and settled in right behind No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Ephs gained 20.93 points between the preseason and Week 1 and did so thanks to Candice Dyce and Helene Hall. Dyce recorded the 4th best triple jump according to the USTFCCCA Event Rankings and Hall notched the 2nd best high jump in NCAA DIII.

It should be mentioned that the USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings are compiled by a mathematical formula based on the NCAA Division III Descending Order Lists and early in the season, marks from previous seasons are used which make up the USTFCCCA Event Rankings.

Since Williams went from No. 5 to No. 3, that pushed UW-La Crosse and MIT both down one spot from their preseason rank, respectively. The Eagles went from No. 3 to No. 4 and MIT from No. 4 to No. 5.

Pomona-Pitzer soared nine spots from the preseason to Week 1, coming in at No. 12 this week. This is the highest the Sagehens have been ranked in program history, beating the previous high-water mark of 21st which the program hit twice (2010, 2017). Pomona-Pitzer is looking for big points from both Maya Weigel (1500/5000) and Jessica Finn (javelin).

Another team hitting a program high is Westminster (Pa.). The Titans had never been ranked higher than 16th, but in Week 1 they’re 14th. Westminster (Pa.) was buoyed by the efforts of Cassidy Shepherd, who is ranked 3rd in the pole vault in the USTFCCCA Event Rankings.

Johns Hopkins comes in at No. 19, its best ranking since it was 12th in 2015. The Blue Jays vaulted 25 spots and were once again led by Felicia Koerner, who moved up the USTFCCCA Event Rankings in the 10000 and took over the top spot with her time of 34:27.60.

The final team joining the top-25 in Week 1 was Emory. The Eagles went from No. 32 to No. 23 and saw Dani Bland notch the 2nd fastest time in the 100 in the USTFCCCA Event Rankings (11.70).

Don’t expect the rankings to stay this steady throughout the season. As the weather heats up, so does the action on the track and in the field – and therefore the rankings get more volatile.

Be sure to check back throughout the season as we bring you the rankings and then find out who is crowned champion come May 25-27 at the 2017 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio.