Men’s Story

Angelo State is the No. 1 team in the nation for the fourth consecutive week in the latest edition of the men’s index.

It marks the longest time spent consecutively in the top spot for the program who was ranked No. 1 just twice in school history before this outdoor season.

The Rams haven’t competed since its David Noble Relays back on April 4-6. They will be back in action this weekend with the West Texas A&M Invite on Saturday.

Jumping up three spots to No. 2 was Grand Valley State which is the best mark received by the program since the Week 8 ratings of the 2016 season.

The Lakers spent the weekend spread out across three meets that included the David Suenram Gorilla Classic, the Bison Outdoor Classic and the Ball State Challenge. The group added numerous new individual performances to the index with the best going to Jacob Domagalski (now third in the nation in the steeple) and Tanner Chada (fourth overall in the 5000).

Dropping a single-spot to No. 3 was West Texas A&M after a weekend at the NMJC Ross Black Open.

It wasn’t a normal weekend for the group though as just one pole vaulter and two jumpers competed in New Mexico. The rest of the team will be back across four meets this weekend with the Mt. Sac Relays, Bryan Clay Invitational, WT Invitational and Beach Invitational all on the schedule.

A national power is back in the running as Colo. School of Mines leaped up 11 spots to No. 4 move back into the top-five.

The Orediggers went off at its Mines Kit Mayer Invite over the weekend.

Countless performances were added to the index with the best of the group coming from Luke Julian (second in DII in the 1500), Josh Evans (fifth overall in the same event), Ben Schneiderman (third in the 10,000) and Ricardo Ocampo (fourth in the 10,000).

Climbing up three to No. 5 was Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The Javelinas are fresh off competition at the Miami Hurricane Alumni Invitational where they were led by Ayman Zahafi (second in the country in the 800) and William Watson (fourth in the 110H).

Rounding out the top-10 in the following order was Lincoln (Mo.), Saint Augustine’s, Texas A&M-Commerce, Ashland and Central Missouri.

It was a pretty busy week overall as 21 of the top-25 teams experienced some kind of movement from the previous ratings. The largest improvement of the group was taken by No. 16 North Greenville after a 35-spot improvement from the week before.

Other big gains were taken by No. 20 Saginaw Valley State (up 17 spots), Colo. School of Mines (up 11) and No. 21 Albany State (Ga./up 10).

The next NCAA DII Men’s National Track & Field Rating Index will be released on Tuesday, April 23.

Women’s Story

There wasn’t much excitement on the women’s side of things as Grand Valley State held down the top spot in the nation for the third straight week.

It is the longest time spent consecutively at the top spot for the program since a run of four consecutive weeks during the end portion of the 2014 season.

The Lakers had athletes at the David Suenram Gorilla Classic, the Bison Outdoor Classic and the Ball State Challenge. Standouts from the weekend included Hanna Groeber (now second in the nation in the steeple) and Jessica Gockley (sixth overall in the 10,000).

Holding in the No. 2 spot was Angelo State after an off-week from competition.

The Rams haven’t taken to the track (or field) since its David Noble Relays back on April 4-6. The program will be back this weekend with the West Texas A&M Invite on Saturday.

Remaining strong at No. 3 was Missouri Southern after a weekend spent at the David Suenram Gorilla Classic.

The Lions only added four individual rankings to the index this week but they made them count as Emily Presley was the top athlete from the weekend as she took over the national lead in the pole vault.

Holding pat at No. 4 was Lincoln (Mo.)

The Blue Tigers are fresh off competition at the William Jewell Darryl Gourley Invite where they saw Rene Medley take the top spot in the county in the 100 and teammate Christine Moss finish right behind her at fifth overall.

There wasn’t a single change at all to the top-four teams in this week’s index. In fact only three of the top-10 programs in the country experienced any kind of movement from the week before.

Climbing up two spots to No. 5 was Pittsburg State which is the first time they have been featured in the top-five this season.

The Gorillas hosted their Classic this weekend that saw top showings out of Brianna Cooks (now 13th in the hammer) and Jena Black (19th overall in the same event). The team took three event victories at the meet overall.

The rest of the top-10 was completed in the following order; Adams State, West Texas A&M, Saint Augustine’s, SF State and Ashland.

The trend of no movement at the top seemed to carry down throughout the rest of the ratings as just 16 of the top-25 teams experienced any kind of change from the previous index.

That doesn’t mean that large improvements weren’t seen though as big gains were taken by No. 21 Oklahoma Baptist (up 104 spots) and No. 23 Southwest Baptist (up 12). It is the first time that Oklahoma Baptist has been ranked in program history while Southwest Baptist earned its best mark since the final rating of the 2017 season.

The next NCAA DII Women’s National Track & Field Rating Index will be released on Tuesday, April 23.