2024 NCAA DII Men’s Indoor Track & Field Rating Index – Week 1
NEW ORLEANS – Track is back.
And don’t forget the field either.
Here is the Week 1 edition of the NCAA DII Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Rating Index for the 2024 season. No marks from previous seasons have been used, which means this objective list is compiled solely of current qualifying marks from the 2024 indoor track & field season.
The National Rating Index is presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division II — Men's Indoor Track & Field
This Week's National Top Five
1
West Texas A&M
West Texas A&M
2
Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State
3
Minnesota State
Minnesota State
4
Pittsburg State
Pittsburg State
5
Harding
Harding
All TFRI Reports
It takes a team to win a title. That message was heard loud and clear over at West Texas A&M, which earned its first No. 1 overall ranking since Week 1 of 2021. The Buffs have 15 national top-10 marks across 10 different events in just over a month’s time. Yes, you heard that correctly: 15. The dynamic sprint duo of James Dadzie and Troy Whyte are leading the charge. The NCAA DII leaderboard has both men at the top of their respective events at 6.60 in the 60 meters and 7.83 in the 60-meter hurdles. Isaac Botsio, William Amponsah, Joseph Oreva, and Luke Holcombe aren’t far behind either. Botsio is sitting on the heels of his own teammate in the 60 meters (No. 4, 6.69) while Amponsah (No. 5, 5000 meters), Oreva (No. 4 long jump), and Holcombe (No. 5 shot put) are establishing themselves as contenders in their own events.
Riding off the success of a podium finish at the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships last fall, Grand Valley State slides into the No. 2 slot. The Lakers have a national top-10 mark in three out of four distance events but it’s a combination of throws and jumps that is doing the heavy lifting. Jonathan Rankins-James set the bar for the high jump back in early December with a 2.22m (7-3¼) clearance that has stood tall ever since. Meanwhile, Myles Kerner spun his way to a 18.53m (60-9½) throw in the shot put and a 19.97m (65-6¼) throw in the weight throw to take the No. 1 and No. 6 positions, respectively.
Minnesota State was on a roll at their home opener in December. The Mavericks notched four out of their six national top-10 marks within a matter of hours, delivering them the No. 3 spot in this week’s rankings. Shemar Miller floated over the sand pit to collect the best triple jump mark in Division II to date at 15.68m (51-5½) while James Gilbert copied his teammate without the hops or skips to pick up a No. 1 mark of his own in the long jump at 7.70m (25-3¼). Jabez Reeves is holding down the fort on the track with the No. 6 and No. 8 times in the 60 meters (6.72) and 200 meters (21.45).
The story of Pittsburg State is essentially the polar opposite. The Rumble in the Jungle Invitational did wonders for their numbers this weekend as the team managed 15 season bests, including the fourth-fastest, 60-meter-hurdles mark to date by Daylin Williams at 7.93. Teammate Joel Nyatusah already had the No. 2 mark in the nation in that event at 7.91. Hunter Jones stood out in the heptathlon, putting up 5636 points to hold down the No. 1 spot nationally. The Gorillas’ 4×400 relay squad is ranked third at 3:11.26.
Harding rounds out the top-5, a team whose collection of individual performances put them on the radar. Six out of a possible eight scoring events are top-10 in DII and four of those are top-5. The Bison are headed by reigning M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week Vlad Malykhin. The sophomore pole vaulter has a substantial edge on the rest of his competition at 5.50m (18-0½). Yves Bilong (No. 2, triple jump, 15.55m/51-0¼) and the 4×400 relay team (No. 5, 3:14.18) also propelled Harding this early in the season.
Here are the rest of the top-10 teams in Week 1: No. 6 Adams State, No. 7 Missouri Southern, No. 8 Colorado Mesa, No. 9 Northwest Missouri and No. 10 Lincoln (Mo.).
