UW-La Crosse Men & Women Begin 2014 Division III Outdoor T&F Season at No. 1

LATEST USTFCCCA NEWS
View on the web
UW-La Crosse Men & Women Begin 2014 Division III Outdoor T&F Season at No. 1
March 26, 2014

NEW ORLEANS – Both the UW-La Crosse men and women will start their 2014 outdoor track & field campaigns at No. 1 in the preseason U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III National Team Computer Rankings released Wednesday.

Using a combination of data from the current 2014 outdoor season (not the indoor season) and the top 2013 marks by returning student-athletes, the UWL men are projected as heavy favorites to defend their national outdoor title over in-state rival UW-Eau Claire, while the computers see little difference between the UWL women and two-time defending national outdoor team champion Wartburg.

WOMEN’S TOP FIVE
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
UW-La Crosse
172.46 pts
2013: 5th Wartburg
171.95 pts
2013: 1st Rowan
127.86 pts
2013: 11th UW-Oshkosh
119.69 pts
2013: 2nd Johns Hopkins
103.31 pts
2013: 13th
View Complete Women’s Rankings
After a fifth-place finish a year ago, the Eagles women (172.46 team rankings points) were boosted to the No. 1 position behind 10 performers ranked within the top 10 of their respective events.

Among them are the top-ranked 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams and Jaime Ludwigson in the top five both at 100 (No. 5) and 200 meters (No. 4).

MORE INFO
National Team PDFs
Top 25 | By Team

National Individual PDFs
DIII By Event | Football | All Divs
Top TFRRS Qualifiers

Rankings History
By Rank | By Team | All-Time

DIII Rankings Home


Top-ranked shot putter Kayla Hemann and steepler Sammi Bruett lifted the reigning champion Wartburg women to No. 2 with 171.95 team rankings points – little more than a half point behind UWL.

A successful title defense by the Knights would make them the third women’s team in DIII history to win three consecutive outdoor national titles, and the first since Wheaton (Mass.) from 2001-03. UW-Oshkosh (1995-97) and Christopher Newport (1987-89) also accomplished the feat.

History is on Wartburg’s side as three of the past four preseason No. 1s have proceeded to finish the season at No. 1, including the Knights in each of the past two seasons. The one team that didn’t? Also Wartburg in 2011, when it finished runner-up.

Rowan (127.86) came in at No. 3, followed by two-time defending indoor champion No. 4 UW-Oshkosh (119.69) and No. 5 Johns Hopkins (103.31), the two-time defending cross country champions from the fall.

MEN’S TOP FIVE
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
UW-La Crosse
232.34 pts
2013: 1st UW-Eau Claire
150.23 pts
2013: 2nd UW-Oshkosh
143.67 pts
2013: 3rd UW-Whitewater
127.12 pts
2013: 4th Whitworth
90.57 pts
2013: 10th
View Complete Men’s Rankings
With 13 competitors ranked among the top 10 in their events – including top-ranked Bryan Klister (pole vault) and the No. 1 4×100 relay – the UW-La Crosse men (232.34 team rankings points) are heavy favorites over the rest of the field.

As both the preseason favorite and the recent indoor champion, recent history as it relates to UW-La Crosse is a mixed bag. The good news for the Eagles is that three of the past four indoor team champions have gone on to complete the sweep with a matching outdoor title.

The bad news? None of them have done it as the outdoor preseason (or week one) favorite since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2010. The last time UWL was the preseason No. 1 in 2012 it finished runner-up.

Next up is No. 2 UW-Eau Claire (150.23) behind Thurgood Dennis as the top-ranked man at 100 and 200 meters, the No. 2 man at 400 meters, and a potential member of the top-ranked 4×400 relay.

No. 3 UW-Oshkosh (143.67), No. 4 UW-Whitewater (127.12) and No. 5 Whitworth (90.57) rounded out the top five.

The national team rankings will be complied by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. A full description of the rankings can be found here.

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION III
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Preseason — March 26
next ranking: April 2

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) 2013 FINAL
1 UW-La Crosse 232.34 WIAC Josh Buchholtz (6th) 1
2 UW-Eau Claire 150.23 WIAC Chip Schneider (12th) 2
3 UW-Oshkosh 143.67 WIAC Eamon McKenna (2nd) 3
4 UW-Whitewater 127.12 WIAC Mike Johnson (5th) 4
5 Whitworth 90.57 Northwest Toby Schwarz (18th) 10
6 Mount Union 87.20 OAC Kevin Lucas (4th) 12
7 Whittier 86.19 SCIAC Dave Hogan (7th) 7
8 Central (Iowa) 85.11 IIAC Joe Dunham (6th) 22
9 Salisbury 82.28 CAC Jim Jones (15th) 13
10 Christopher Newport 79.79 CAC Tyler Wingard (8th) 53
11 Wartburg 76.79 IIAC Marcus Newsom (16th) 15
12 SUNY Cortland 72.99 SUNYAC Steve Patrick (7th) 61
13 North Central (Ill.) 72.84 CCIW Frank Gramarosso (4th) 5
14 MIT 71.79 NEWMAC Halston Taylor (24th) 53
15 Carthage 68.22 CCIW Brett Witt (9th) NR
16 Bates 66.04 NESCAC Al Fereshetian (19th) 9
17 Greenville 65.93 SLIAC Brian Patton (20th) 13
18 UW-Stout 61.65 WIAC Kyle Steiner (1st) NR
19 Buffalo State 60.12 SUNYAC Eugene Lewis (14th) 72
20 Coast Guard 56.17 NEWMAC Ethan Brown (3rd) 37
21 SUNY Oneonta 55.93 SUNYAC Angelo Posillico (1st) 6
22 Augustana (Ill.) 54.95 CCIW Paul Olsen (45th) 18
23 Moravian 48.76 Landmark Jesse Baumann (3rd) 72
24 Wabash 47.27 NCAC Clyde Morgan (6th) 53
25 Haverford 45.25 Centennial Tom Donnelly (39th) 8

View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 WIAC 788.16 5
2 SUNYAC 218.96 3
3 CCIW 216.07 3
4 CAC 203.53 2
5 NESCAC 193.63 1
6 SCIAC 190.56 1
7 IIAC 188.66 2
8 Northwest Conference 151.66 1
9 OAC 148.62 1
10 NEWMAC 135.55 2



USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION III
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Preseason — March 26
next ranking: April 2

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) 2013 FINAL
1 UW-La Crosse 172.46 WIAC Pat Healy (23rd) 5
2 Wartburg 171.95 IIAC Marcus Newsom (16th) 1
3 Rowan 127.86 NJAC Derick “Ringo” Adamson (7th) 11
4 UW-Oshkosh 119.69 WIAC Ben Dorsey (2nd) 2
5 Johns Hopkins 103.31 Centennial Bobby Van Allen (15th) 13
6 Wheaton (Mass.) 98.59 NEWMAC Dave Cusano (3rd) 8
7 Cal Lutheran 94.83 SCIAC Matt Lea (6th) 33
8 Williams 89.10 NESCAC Nate Hoey (1st) 10
9 UW-Whitewater 88.52 WIAC Mike Johnson (3rd) 7
10 MIT 81.68 NEWMAC Halston Taylor (7th) 39
11 Buffalo State 74.53 SUNYAC Eugene Lewis (14th) 3
12 Washington (Mo.) 72.14 UAA Jeff Stiles (13th) 12
13 North Central (Ill.) 67.91 CCIW Kari Kluckhohn (11th) 38
14 Ramapo 63.40 NJAC Mike Jackson (10th) 3
15 Lehman 58.94 CUNYAC Lesleigh Hogg (18th) 26
16 Birmingham-Southern 58.76 SAA Kenneth Cox (5th) 16
17 Concordia Moorhead 57.90 MIAC Marv Roeske (19th) 26
18 Monmouth (Ill.) 53.60 Midwest Roger Haynes (14th) 15
19 Washington and Jefferson 50.33 PAC Dale Boring (1st) 18
20 WPI 45.85 NEWMAC Brian Chabot (6th) 18
21 La Verne 45.09 SCIAC Pat Widolff (22nd) 69
22 Illinois Wesleyan 43.75 CCIW Chris Schumacher (17th) 22
23 SUNY Cortland 43.54 SUNYAC Steve Patrick (7th) 51
24 UW-Eau Claire 43.28 WIAC Chip Schneider (8th) 24
25 Calvin 43.04 MIAA Bret Otte (5th) 26

View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 WIAC 493.42 4
2 NEWMAC 283.72 3
3 IIAC 230.51 1
4 NJAC 225.83 2
5 NESCAC 208.98 1
6 SCIAC 182.46 2
7 CCIW 169.44 2
8 UAA 157.88 1
9 SUNYAC 156.90 2
10 MIAC 145.10 1


U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
1100 Poydras Street, Suite 1750
New Orleans, LA 70163

Contact: Kyle Terwillegar
Communications Assistant
kyle@ustfccca.org
(504) 599-8905