2017 NCAA DIII Men’s Outdoor Team Rankings – Week 2

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

NEW ORLEANS – It’s moving week in the NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings.

What does that mean?

Just two of the teams in the top-25 from Week 1 remained in place when the Week 2 rankings were released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Those teams were top-ranked UW-La Crosse and No. 19 UW-Oshkosh.

None of the teams in the top-5 from Week 1 fell out of the top-5 in Week 2. They just swapped spots. Rowan went from No. 3 to No. 2, while North Central (Ill.) – in search of the Triple Crown – dropped from No. 2 to No. 3. Occidental leapfrogged Aurora to round out the top-5.

It gets a little more interesting outside of the top-5, since that’s where MIT and SUNY Cortland both vaulted five spots into the top-10. The Engineers come in at No. 6, while the Red Dragons reach a season-high 7th. Big marks from Richard Bratten (51.02m/167-4 in the discus throw) and Dennis Maloney (30:07.93) pushed MIT and it was Dawan Jones in the triple jump (14.78m/48-6) who propelled SUNY Cortland.

Further down in the rankings you’ll see Benedictine (Ill.) jumping 29 spots from No. 42 in Week 1 to No. 13 in Week 2. The Eagles’ horizontal jumpers led the way just as they did during the indoor season as Matt Fleming and Roman Hill both worked their way into the top-5 of the USTFCCCA Event Rankings in the long jump.

Another team with a double-digit leap was Tufts. The Jumbos moved 11 spots from Week 1 to Week 2 and can thank Tim Nichols and Josh Etkind for that. Nichols posted a sub-30 minute 10000 this past weekend (29:37.09) and is No. 2 on the USTFCCCA Event Rankings. Etkind notched a windy 14.46 in the 110 hurdles to move up to 5th in the Event Rankings.

Peter Hale was in the same race as Nichols this past weekend and nearly went sub-30 minutes and is now 5th in the USTFCCCA Event Rankings. That pushed Williams from No. 35 to No. 22.

We’re about six weeks away from the 2017 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held from May 25-27 in Geneva, Ohio. Be sure to check back throughout the season as the National Team Computer Rankings continue to take shape.