GVSU Women Jump to No. 1 in Division II Outdoor T&F National Team Rankings

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GVSU Women Jump to No. 1 in Division II Outdoor T&F National Team Rankings
April 8, 2014

NEW ORLEANS – For the first time since winning the second of back-to-back Division II outdoor national titles in 2012, the Grand Valley State women have surged to the No. 1 spot in the week four edition of the DII National Team Computer released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

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The Lakers improved five positions from their 2014 debut at No. 6 a week ago to supplant Johnson C. Smith – now at No. 2 – as the nation’s top-ranked team, while the defending national champion Saint Augustine’s men maintained a sizeable lead over a No. 2 Adams State squad that debuted many of its top distance runners this past weekend.

The National Team Computer Rankings for Division II are a reflection of performances that have been recorded only during the 2014 outdoor track & field season.

While some teams have been competing outdoors regularly since February and many have only recently opened up their spring campaigns.

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.

WOMEN’S TOP FIVE
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
GVSU
185.53 pts Johnson C. Smith
171.61 pts Lincoln (Mo.)
162.25 pts Angelo State
133.96 pts Saint Augustine’s
132.67 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

Top-ranked pole vaulter Kristen Hixson, along with fourth-ranked Hannah Osborn (steeplechase) and Kalena Franklin (100-meter hurdles), propelled the GVSU women (185.53 team rankings score) to a 74-point improvement in the rankings.

That was enough to outpace Johnson C. Smith’s 14-point improvement to 177.61 at No. 2.

As big as GVSU’s move to the top was, it was bettered by 2009 champion Lincoln (Mo.)’s 13-position leap to No. 3 with 162.25 team rankings points – nearly 95 points better than a week ago.

The Blue Tigers have finished runners-up in three of the past four NCAA Championships after winning six of seven titles from 2003 through 2009.

Angelo State (133.96), the 2010 team champion, dropped one spot to No. 4, while Saint Augustine’s (132.67) fell three positions to round out the top five.

Defending champion Academy of Art is ranked No. 8, down three from last week.

MEN’S TOP FIVE
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Saint Augustine’s
313.33 pts Adams State
186.78 pts TAMU-Kingsville
178.84 pts Chico State
162.06 pts Colorado Mines
118.80 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

Paced by world-leading National Athlete of the Week Roxroy Cato and other strong performances at the Florida Relays, the Saint Augustine’s men (313.33) improved their team score by more than 38 points from a week ago. The Falcons have now been No. 1 in eight of the past 14 weeks.

However, Saint Augustine’s – the winners of three of the past five team titles – lost some of their advantage over new No. 2 Adams State (186.78), the winner of the 2012 team crown.

The Grizzlies got a collegiate leader from Tabor Stevens in the steeplechase and a top-ranked DII 5000 meters from Kevin Batt along with a pair of top-10 runs at 10,000 meters to improve nearly 52 points from a week ago to slide up to the second spot.

No. 3 Texas A&M-Kingsville (178.84) dropped one spot as a result.

Chico State (162.06) held steady at No. 4 but did manage to better its rankings score by nearly 50 points to keep pace with the top two teams. Colorado Mines (118.80) moved up one spot to No. 5.

Making the biggest move of the week into the top 25 were the Livingstone women, who catapulted 97 positions to No. 23 behind a DII-leading 400 and No. 2 200 by Quanera Hayes.

Also of note was No. 14 New Mexico Highlands’ 35-spot improvement from last week.

Johnson C. Smith was the big gainer on the men’s side with a 16-position leap to No. 22.

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #4 — April 8
next ranking: April 15

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Saint Augustine’s 313.33 CIAA George Williams (38th) 1
2 Adams State 186.78 RMAC Rock Light (1st) 3
3 Texas A&M-Kingsville 178.84 Lone Star Ryan Dall (6th) 2
4 Chico State 162.06 CCAA Oliver Hanf (2nd) 4
5 Colorado Mines 118.80 RMAC Matt Sparks (1st) 6
6 Angelo State 113.99 Lone Star James Reid (15th) 5
7 Ashland 105.79 GLIAC Jud Logan (11th) 7
8 Academy of Art 98.55 PacWest Charles Ryan (4th) 8
9 Alaska Anchorage 93.12 GNAC Michael Friess (24th) 10
10 Grand Valley State 90.61 GLIAC Jerry Baltes (15th) 9
11 Texas A&M-Commerce 74.84 Lone Star Tom Dibbern (1st) 16
12 Findlay 74.48 GLIAC Marc Arce (26th) 15
13 Pittsburg State 69.30 MIAA Russ Jewett (26th) 19
14 Shippensburg 64.35 PSAC Dave Osanitsch (9th) 18
15 Nova Southeastern 60.87 Peach Belt Bryan Hagopian (5th) 11
16 Cal State Stanislaus 59.01 CCAA Diljeet Taylor (2nd) 20
17 West Texas A&M 55.87 Lone Star Darren Flowers (5th) 13
18 Mount Olive 54.89 Conf. Carolinas Matt van Lierop (6th) 25
19 Tarleton State 53.31 Lone Star Patrick Ponder (8th) 12
20 Central Missouri 51.61 MIAA Kirk Pedersen (18th)/Kip Janvrin (16th) 27
21 UC San Diego 50.54 CCAA Tony Salerno (15th) 14
22 Johnson C. Smith 49.37 CIAA Lennox Graham (7th) 38
23 Missouri Southern 45.46 MIAA Bryan Schiding (1st) 22
24 Tiffin 45.35 GLIAC Jeremy Croy (14th) 24
25 Cal State LA 39.13 CCAA Tina Fernandes (1st) 21
Dropped out: No. 17 Missouri S&T, No. 23 Western Washington
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 Lone Star 538.42 5
2 CIAA 416.93 2
3 GLIAC 374.35 4
4 RMAC 339.59 2
5 MIAA 334.04 3
6 CCAA 321.45 4
7 PSAC 159.58 1
8 GNAC 149.33 1
9 GLVC 114.24
10 PacWest 102.09 1



USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #4 — April 8
next ranking: April 15

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Grand Valley State 185.53 GLIAC Jerry Baltes (15th) 6
2 Johnson C. Smith 177.61 CIAA Lennox Graham (7th) 1
3 Lincoln (Mo.) 162.25 MIAA Victor Thomas (13th) 16
4 Angelo State 133.96 Lone Star James Reid (15th) 3
5 Saint Augustine’s 132.67 CIAA George Williams (38th) 2
6 Chico State 128.43 CCAA Robert Nooney (1st) 4
7 Cal State Stanislaus 126.60 CCAA Diljeet Taylor (2nd) 9
8 Academy of Art 112.14 PacWest Charles Ryan (4th) 5
9 Adams State 111.20 RMAC Rock Light (1st) 13
10 Ashland 109.63 GLIAC Jud Logan (11th) 12
11 Central Missouri 108.73 MIAA Kirk Pedersen (18th)/Kip Janvrin (16th) 8
12 West Texas A&M 90.57 Lone Star Darren Flowers (5th) 15
13 Alaska Anchorage 78.80 GNAC Michael Friess (24th) 20
14 New Mexico Highlands 74.56 RMAC Bob DeVries (22nd) 49
15 Western Washington 70.71 GNAC Pee Wee Halsell (27th) 14
16 Texas A&M-Kingsville 70.56 Lone Star Ryan Dall (6th) 7
17 Indianapolis 70.36 GLVC Scott Fangman (17th) 19
18 New Haven 69.89 Northeast-10 Shaunnaya Williams (3rd) 10
19 Wayne State (Neb.) 61.73 NSIC Marlon Brink (14th) 17
20 Seattle Pacific 52.57 GNAC Karl Lerum (9th) 33
21 Pittsburg State 51.56 MIAA Russ Jewett (28th) 25
22 Southwest Baptist 43.28 MIAA Corey McElhaney (6th) 27
23 Livingstone 42.96 CIAA Justin Davis (5th) 120
24 Edinboro 38.68 PSAC Anne Carlson (2nd) 11
25 Central Oklahoma 37.42 MIAA Martha Brennan (4th) 18
Dropped out: No. 21 Queens (N.C.), No. 22 Slippery Rock, No. 23 Missouri Southern, No. 24 Fort Hays State
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 MIAA 543.32 5
2 GLIAC 426.25 2
3 CIAA 389.59 3
4 Lone Star 333.82 3
5 CCAA 303.59 2
6 RMAC 255.18 2
7 GNAC 246.83 3
8 GLVC 158.29 1
9 PSAC 139.54 1
10 NSIC 121.66 1


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