A Florida Sweep at No. 1 in the Outdoor T&F Division I National Team Rankings

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A Florida Sweep at No. 1 in the Outdoor T&F Division I National Team Rankings
May 6, 2014


NEW ORLEANS – In their first week at No. 1 in the nation, Texas’ women had a strong showing at their home Longhorn Invitational and built on their team score in the outdoor track & field Division I National Team Computer Rankings.

All well and good for the Longhorns but for one thing: Florida was even better on this given weekend.

For the third consecutive week, a different women’s team – this time the Florida Gators – occupies the top spot in the Division I National Team Computer Rankings, released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

As the NCAA Championships draw to within five weeks away, the top 10 women’s teams – and to a lesser extent, the men’s teams – continue to jockey for position, headlined by Florida taking over for Texas at No. 1.

At No. 1 for the first time since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2008, the Gator women joined their male teammates as the top ranked teams in the nation, marking the first time one program has occupied both No. 1 spots since Texas A&M in week eight of the 2011 season.

Both A&M squads ultimately ended up winning national titles that year.

Behind Cory McGee and Agata Strausa moving to No. 2 and 3 on the 1500 meters qualifying list, respectively, and Ciarra Brewer jumping to No. 2 in the triple jump, Florida improved its team rankings score to 380.68 – a 40-point gain from a week ago.

WOMEN’S TOP FIVE
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Florida
380.68 pts Texas
368.13 pts Oregon
301.38 pts Texas A&M
289.43 pts Kentucky
223.70 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings


Texas (368.13), which held a slim two-point lead a week ago, improved 25 points behind Ashley Spencer’s top-ranked 200 meters and No. 2 400 meters performances and The Bowerman Watch List member Morolake Akinosun’s move to No. 3 at 200 meters, but nonetheless dropped to No. 2 in the team rankings.

Meanwhile, Oregon (301.38) improved one position to No. 3 despite seeing its team score drop by 15 points. Texas A&M’s (289.43) score fell even harder with a nearly 30-point loss as it fell back into the No. 4 slot.

Dezerea Bryant's dash to the top of the 100 meters national qualifying list boosted Kentucky (25.47) up one position to No. 5. No. 6 Georgia (218.29) fell one spot but was able to remain just ahead of stationary No. 7 LSU (215.47). Arkansas (198.78) Improved one place to No. 8.

National Athlete of the Week Aisling Cuffe and her No. 9 Stanford women (169.51) were the big movers this week with a 15-position jump from a week ago, while Pac-12 rival Southern California (162.73) dropped two spots to No. 10.

No. 22 Colorado also improved 15 spots.

MEN’S TOP FIVE
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Florida
328.42 pts Texas A&M
276.34 pts Arkansas
237.38 pts Oregon
204.08 pts Texas Tech
173.37 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings


By comparison, little changed atop the men’s rankings as defending national co-champions Florida (328.42) and Texas A&M (276.34) remained No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, with No. 3 Arkansas (237.38) and No. 4 Oregon (204.08) still in pursuit.

Moving up to a season-best No. 5 was Texas Tech (173.37) as Kennedy Kithuka debuted at No. 2 at 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Invitational. The Red Raiders displaced Georgia (162.56) to No. 6.

Also making big strides – up 10 spots, to be exact – following Payton Jordan was No. 7 Oklahoma State (161.80), which saw Shadrack Kipchirchir take the collegiate 10,000 meters lead and Kirubel Erassa move to No. 2 at 5000 meters. It marked the program’s first top-10 appearance during the outdoor season since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings.

No. 8 Texas (159.85) fell one position from last week, while No. 9 LSU (156.61) gained one spot. Alabama (153.49) dropped two spots to round out the top 10.

Far and away the biggest move of this week’s rankings came from the Stanford men, who improved a whopping 85 positions from a week ago to No. 22.

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 I
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #5 — May 6
next ranking: May 13

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Florida 328.42 SEC Mike Holloway (12th) 1
2 Texas A&M 276.34 SEC Pat Henry (10th) 2
3 Arkansas 237.38 SEC Chris Bucknam (6th) 3
4 Oregon 204.08 Pac-12 Robert Johnson (2nd) 4
5 Texas Tech 173.37 Big 12 Wes Kittley (15th) 9
6 Georgia 162.56 SEC Wayne Norton (15th) 5
7 Oklahoma State 161.80 Big 12 Dave Smith (6th) 17
8 Texas 159.85 Big 12 Mario Sategna (1st) 7
9 LSU 156.61 SEC Dennis Shaver (10th) 10
10 Alabama 153.49 SEC Dan Waters (3rd) 8
11 BYU 152.89 Independent (DI) Ed Eyestone (1st) 6
12 UCLA 134.95 Pac-12 Mike Maynard (5th) 13
13 Baylor 133.95 Big 12 Todd Harbour (9th) 15
14 Southern California 128.46 Pac-12 Caryl Smith Gilbert (1st) 12
15 Wisconsin 125.96 Big Ten Mick Byrne (1st) 18
16 Nebraska 117.80 Big Ten Gary Pepin (31st) 11
17 Penn State 117.14 Big Ten Beth Alford-Sullivan (8th) 19
18 Kentucky 113.42 SEC Edrick Floreal (2nd) 21
19 Mississippi 112.18 SEC Brian O’Neal (2nd) 16
20 Illinois 104.49 Big Ten Mike Turk (5th) 14
21 Tennessee 91.36 SEC J.J. Clark (5th) 26
22 Stanford 89.50 Pac-12 Chris Miltenberg (2nd) 107
23 New Mexico 85.37 Mountain West Joe Franklin (7th) 30
24 Pittsburgh 80.56 ACC Alonzo Webb (12th) 20
25 Arizona 63.15 Pac-12 Fred Harvey (12th) 44
dropped out: No. 22 Notre Dame, No. 23 Georgia Tech, No. 24 Georgetown, No. 25 North Carolina
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 SEC 1772.51 9
2 Pac-12 811.24 5
3 Big 12 800.25 4
4 Big Ten 702.56 4
5 ACC 508.77 1
6 Conference USA 279.91
7 Mountain West 216.50 1
8 American 189.77
9 Mid-American 174.77
10 Ivy 170.14



USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION I
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #5 — May 6
next ranking: May 13

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Florida 380.68 SEC Mike Holloway (7th) 2
2 Texas 368.13 Big 12 Mario Sategna (1st) 1
3 Oregon 301.38 Pac-12 Robert Johnson (2nd) 4
4 Texas A&M 289.43 SEC Pat Henry (10th) 3
5 Kentucky 223.70 SEC Edrick Floreal (2nd) 6
6 Georgia 218.29 SEC Wayne Norton (15th) 5
7 LSU 215.47 SEC Dennis Shaver (10th) 7
8 Arkansas 198.78 SEC Lance Harter (24th) 9
9 Stanford 169.51 Pac-12 Chris Miltenberg (2nd) 24
10 Southern California 162.73 Pac-12 Caryl Smith Gilbert (1st) 8
11 Florida State 157.43 ACC Bob Braman (11th) 10
12 Arizona 131.97 Pac-12 Fred Harvey (12th) 11
13 Baylor 107.55 Big 12 Todd Harbour (9th) 15
14 Missouri 104.60 SEC Brett Halter (4th) 13
15 Kansas 97.57 Big 12 Stanley Redwine (14th) 17
16 Arizona State 97.21 Pac-12 Greg Kraft (18th) 23
17 San Diego State 95.15 Mountain West Shelia Burrell (5th) 14
18 Mississippi State 92.55 SEC Steve Dudley (4th) 12
19 Penn State 89.44 Big Ten Beth Alford-Sullivan (15th) 18
20 Virginia Tech 86.06 ACC Dave Cianelli (13th) 16
21 Texas Tech 80.91 Big 12 Wes Kittley (15th) 25
22 Colorado 80.81 Pac-12 Mark Wetmore (19th) 37
23 NC State 78.12 ACC Rollie Geiger (30th) 19
24 Michigan 74.99 Big Ten James Henry (29th) 20
25 Nebraska 73.05 Big Ten Gary Pepin (34th) 32
droppped out: No. 21 Washington, No. 22 Western Kentucky
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25




Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 SEC 1884.32 8
2 Pac-12 1097.06 6
3 Big 12 891.12 4
4 ACC 651.39 3
5 Big Ten 423.21 3
6 Mountain West 232.77 1
7 Conference USA 229.86
8 Mid-American 182.88
9 American 177.94
10 Ivy 125.37





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