UW-La Crosse Continues to Lead DIII Outdoor Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – The UW-La Crosse Eagles rule the NCAA Division III roost for the third straight week.

Their men and women have been ranked No. 1 in every 2015 edition of the DIII Outdoor National Team Computer Rankings. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released the rankings on Tuesday.

Stability was the story in both polls. The top ten teams–in a slightly different order–remained the same for both sexes. No new men’s teams entered the top 23, and no women’s teams entered the top 24.

Four-time national champion thrower Sean Donnelly left No. 4 Mount Union to try his hand at the Division I level. He’ll sit out this spring and compete for Minnesota in 2016. That was the biggest development in the men’s poll, as it caused his former team to slide from second to fourth in the rankings. No. 2 UW-Eau Claire and No. 3 North Central (Ill.) were the biggest beneficiaries of Donnelly’s departure, as both teams moved up to their highest ranking of the year.

No. 5 UW-Whitewater, No. 6 UW-Oshkosh, No. 7 Augustana (Ill.), No. 8 MIT, No. 9 Washington (Mo.), and No. 10 SUNY Oneonta filled out the rest of the men’s top ten. Oshkosh, Augie, and MIT each moved up one spot at WashU’s expense.

That’s the highest ranking ever for the MIT Engineers. Two men’s teams joined the top twenty-five for the first time ever: No. 24 Messiah climbed six ranks, while No. 25 Spalding moved up one.

Tim Moses literally vaulted Messiah into the rankings, as he cleared a season-best 5.11m (16-9.25) for the Falcons at the Millersville Metrics. And Spalding scooted up the rankings thanks to thrower Kyle Jenkins adding a nationally elite discus mark to his already points-rich performances in the shot and hammer.

NCAA Division III Computer Rankings Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-La Crosse UW-Eau Claire North Central (Ill.) Mount Union UW-Whitewater View Complete Men’s Computer Rankings NCAA Division III Computer Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-La Crosse UW-Oshkosh UW-Whitewater Johns Hopkins MIT View Complete Women’s Computer Rankings

In the women’s rankings, No. 2 Oshkosh and No. 3 Whitewater flip-flopped. Behind the three WIAC schools that lead the nation, No. 4 Johns Hopkins, No. 5 MIT, No. 6 Wartburg, and No. 7 George Fox held down their respective spots from a week ago; new No. 8 Cal Lutheran jumped over No. 9 Baldwin Wallace and No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan.

The Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps were the biggest movers of the week, as they went from No. 22 to No. 13 mostly thanks to a stellar 400 from Alyanna Cameron-Lewis and a quick 800 from Carmen Mejia.

No. 25 UW-Platteville moved up from No. 26; that marks the first time that the Pioneers have explored the territory of the regular season top 25.

Four new men’s teams and five new women’s teams rose to No. 1 rankings in their respective regions. They were the men from Loras, Wabash, Augustana (Ill.), and MIT and the women from Wartburg, Ohio Wesleyan, Salisbury, La Crosse, and MIT. Five programs have the regional No. 1 men’s and women’s team: Rowan in the Atlantic, Salisbury in the Mideast, MIT in New England, Emory in the South/Southeast, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the West.

The DIII rankings will be released on Tuesdays between now and outdoor nationals.