2017 NCAA DIII Outdoor Men’s Team Rankings – Week 5

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

NEW ORLEANS – Three major jumps in the bottom half of the NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings highlighted an otherwise slow time in the most recent rankings that were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The top-8 teams from the previous week remained the same as Rowan is No. 1, followed by UW-La Crosse, UW-Whitewater, North Central (Ill.), SUNY Cortland, UW-Stevens Point, Benedictine (Ill.) and Augustana (Ill.).

Mount Union is the only team from outside the top-10 to join that bunch this week. The Purple Raiders pushed Tufts out and fell between Augustana (Ill.) and Aurora in 9th place.

The first notable jump belonged to Occidental. The Tigers went from No. 30 to No. 12 and did so after a strong outing at the SCIAC Championships. Hugh Pegan is now ranked 3rd on the NCAA DIII Descending Order List at 200 meters after a wind-legal 21.35. Pegan is joined in the top-10 by Jeh Johnson, who comes in at 10th at 21.57. Johnson and Pegan were already part of the 2nd fastest 4×100 team in the nation with their time of 41.21 from two weeks ago.

Williams continued to climb the rankings as it went from No. 35 to No. 18. The Ephs were buoyed by Peter Hale and David Folsom, who went 1-2 in the 1500 at the NESCAC Championships. That’s all fine and dandy, but Hale and Folsom are now 5th and 6th on the NCAA DIII Descending Order List, which affected Williams’ position in the rankings.

No two athletes had more of an impact on their team’s ranking than Benjamin Fazio and Grant O’Connor. It was at the Penn Relays where Fazio clocked a time of 14:07.76 in the 5000 and O’Connor ran 29:51.15 in the 10000, which allowed RPI to vault from 131st to 23rd.

The 2017 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships will happen from May 25-27 in Geneva, Ohio. Be sure to check back on USTFCCCA.org throughout the month as you’ll see the rankings shift and find out which athletes and coaches are recognized by the Association.