Oklahoma Baptist Men & British Columbia Women Are New No. 1 Teams in NAIA National Rankings

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Oklahoma Baptist Men & British Columbia Women Are New No. 1 Teams in NAIA National Rankings
April 30, 2014


NEW ORLEANS – Just a month ago, the Indiana Tech men and women – both defending national outdoor champions – were the overwhelming early-season favorites in the NAIA National Team Computer Rankings by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Fast forward to Wednesday’s week four edition, the field has caught up and neither the Warriors’ men or women are even in the top two.

Oklahoma Baptist’s men jumped three spots to the No. 1 spot vacated by Indiana Tech two weeks ago to Concordia (Ore.), while the British Columbia women beat out Oklahoma Baptist for the top spot in their rankings.

Team rankings points do not equate to NAIA Championships team points scored at the national meet, but rather the number of student-athletes a team has near the top of the descending order list in their resepctive events and how highly they are ranked.

A full explanation of the points system used in the National Team Computer Rankings can be found here.

Qualification for the NAIA Championships will not be determined in any way by these rankings, which are not officially sanctioned or endorsed by the NAIA for the 2014 season. These rankings are supported by the NAIA from the standpoint of media and entertainment purposes only.

The Bison men’s newly top-ranked 4×800 relay from the Drake Relays boosted their team rankings score to 429.36, just ahead of a trio of teams that, despite all seeing their team rankings scores drop, remained well within striking distance of the rankings’ top spot.

Formerly top-ranked Concordia (Ore.) dropped 43 points from a week ago to 426.70 and fell to No. 2, while No. 3 Wayland Baptist (Texas) slipped 31 points to 422.84 and Indiana Tech tumbled 22 points to 413.64.

Concordia (Neb.) (279.23) rounded out the top five.

After holding a nearly 90-point advantage just one week ago, the Indiana Tech women dropped two positions to No. 3 after their team rankings score plummeted by 87 points to 467.67.

Both new No. 1 British Columbia (500.98) and two-time defending indoor champion No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist (491.46) registered gains of more than 35 points to battle past the falling Warriors.

Sprinter Joy Spear Chief-Morris moved into the top 10 on the national descending order list at both 100 and 200 meters to propel BC to a 35-point gain, while Hannah Helker’s second-ranked run at 5000 meters and a sweep of the top spots in the 4×100, 4×400 and 4×800 relays were the spur for OBU’s nearly 38-point gain.

Doane (Neb.) (416.45) remained in the hunt at No. 4, with Wayland Baptist (Texas) (300.25) completing the top five.

The Mid-South Conference champion men of No. 24 Cumberlands (Ky.) moved up the farthest in the top 25 with a 75-position gain, while the No. 22 Wiley (Texas) women were the biggest movers in their rankings with a 13-spot improvement.

USTFCCCA NAIA
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #4 — April 30
next ranking: May 7

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Oklahoma Baptist 429.36 Sooner Athletic Ford Mastin (18th) 4
2 Concordia (Ore.) 426.70 Cascade Isaac Frederick (2nd) 1
3 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 422.84 Sooner Athletic Rohan Thompson (3rd) 2
4 Indiana Tech 413.65 Wolverine-Hoosier Doug Edgar (5th) 3
5 Concordia (Neb.) 279.23 Great Plains Kregg Einspahr (22nd) 5
6 Southern Oregon 244.98 Cascade Grier Gatlin (3rd) 6
7 Dickinson State (N.D.) 226.02 Frontier Michael Nekuda (1st) 8
8 British Columbia 216.19 Independent (NAIA) Marek Jedrzejek (13th) 7
9 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 170.67 Sun Conference Michael Rosolino (11th) 12
10 Doane (Neb.) 166.60 Great Plains Ed Fye (12th) 11
11 Cal State San Marcos 166.54 Independent (NAIA) Steve Scott (15th) 10
12 St. Francis (Ill.) 163.83 Chicagoland Jeff Barker (2nd) 25
13 Oklahoma City 163.61 Sooner Athletic Conor Holt (3rd) 9
14 Siena Heights (Mich.) 163.45 Wolverine-Hoosier Tim Bauer (30th) 13
15 Missouri Baptist 137.23 American Midwest Patricia Hanna (4th) 15
16 Wiley (Texas) 136.86 Red River Micah Tirop (1st) 18
17 Carroll (Mont.) 136.76 Frontier Harry Clark (1st) 14
18 Hastings (Neb.) 130.43 Great Plains Ryan Mahoney (1st) 16
19 Central Methodist (Mo.) 120.03 Heart of America Mark Nelson (3rd) 17
20 Concordia (Calif.) 110.80 Golden State Mark Sellers (1st) 21
21 Bethel (Ind.) 104.90 Crossroads Tony Natali (16th) 19
22 Cornerstone (Mich.) 98.04 Wolverine-Hoosier Rod Wortley (16th) 43
23 Benedictine (Kan.) 91.94 Heart of America Darin Schmitz (3rd) 26
24 Cumberlands (Ky.) 91.25 Mid-South Floyd Stroud (21st) 99
25 Nebraska Wesleyan 90.28 Great Plains Ted Bulling (29th) 23
dropped out: No. 20 Northwestern (Iowa), No. 22 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), No. 24 Shawnee State (Ohio)
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 Sooner Athletic 1056.00 3
2 Great Plains 937.39 4
3 Cascade 887.12 2
4 Wolverine-Hoosier 781.67 3
5 Frontier 465.38 2
6 Independent (NAIA) 420.46 2
7 Heart of America 393.09 2
8 Golden State 362.68 1
9 Crossroads 360.61 1
10 Red River 354.20 1



USTFCCCA NAIA
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #4 — April 30
next ranking: May 7

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 British Columbia 500.98 Independent (NAIA) Marek Jedrzejek (13th) 2
2 Oklahoma Baptist 491.46 Sooner Athletic Ford Mastin (18th) 3
3 Indiana Tech 467.67 Wolverine-Hoosier Doug Edgar (5th) 1
4 Doane (Neb.) 416.45 Great Plains Ed Fye (12th) 4
5 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 300.25 Sooner Athletic Rohan Thompson (3rd) 5
6 College of Idaho 251.98 Cascade Pat McCurry (10th) 6
7 Concordia (Neb.) 228.46 Great Plains Kregg Einspahr (22nd) 7
8 Cornerstone (Mich.) 207.60 Wolverine-Hoosier Paul Koutz (2nd) 13
9 Baker (Kan.) 205.49 Heart of America Zach Kindler (7th) 8
10 Hastings (Neb.) 198.58 Great Plains Ryan Mahoney (1st) 9
11 Cal State San Marcos 178.54 Independent (NAIA) Steve Scott (15th) 10
12 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 173.02 Sun Conference Michael Rosolino (11th) 11
13 Westmont (Calif.) 164.55 Golden State Russell Smelley (35th) 14
14 Carroll (Mont.) 163.68 Frontier Harry Clark (1st) 12
15 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 151.80 Chicagoland Michael McDowell (13th) 18
16 Concordia (Ore.) 139.52 Cascade Isaac Frederick (2nd) 25
17 Siena Heights (Mich.) 138.35 Wolverine-Hoosier Kirk Richards (2nd) 15
18 Indiana Wesleyan 124.46 Crossroads John Foss (27th) 20
19 Bethel (Ind.) 122.14 Crossroads Tony Natali (16th) 19
20 Xavier (La.) 120.55 Gulf Coast Joseph Moses (10th) 17
21 The Master’s (Calif.) 119.63 Golden State Zach Schroeder (6th) 16
22 Wiley (Texas) 118.19 Red River Micah Tirop (1st) 35
23 Missouri Baptist 116.51 American Midwest Patricia Hanna (4th) 24
24 Biola (Calif.) 115.87 Golden State Jonathan Zimmerman (8th) 21
25 Southern Oregon 107.89 Cascade Grier Gatlin (3rd) 22
dropped out: No. 23 Morningside (Iowa)
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 Great Plains 1292.75 3
2 Wolverine-Hoosier 909.43 3
3 Sooner Athletic 808.00 2
4 Cascade 708.14 3
5 Independent (NAIA) 688.04 2
6 Golden State 576.29 3
7 Crossroads 369.45 2
8 Sun Conference 326.74 1
9 Red River 294.64 1
10 Heart of America 291.65 1







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