Texas Women Reclaim No. 1 Spot in Division I National Team Rankings

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Texas Women Reclaim No. 1 Spot in Division I National Team Rankings
May 20, 2014


NEW ORLEANS – With the 2014 Division I outdoor regular season now wrapped up and only one step – the East and West Preliminaries – remaining between now and the National Championships, the Texas women have taken control of the National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).



The Longhorn women stampeded to the top of the rankings following a Big 12 title and a collegiate 400 meters record by co-National Athlete of the Week Courtney Okolo, while the defending national co-champion Florida men – despite a poor showing at the SEC Championships – improved their lead atop the men’s rankings.

Out West with a pair of Pac-12 titles to their names, both the No. 3 Oregon men and women made significant strides toward the top, with the men nearly surpassing defending national co-champion Texas A&M for the No. 2 spot.

It should be noted that the USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings reflect the potential of a given team in a national championship meet setting, and not necessarily at a smaller meet like the conference championships with fewer teams represented.

Next week’s rankings will take into account only entries into the East and West NCAA Preliminary sites.

For the Texas women, their performance in Lubbock, Texas, boosted their team rankings score by nearly 22 points to 382.88. Driving that gain was a trio of top-ranked times at 400 meters, led by Okolo’s collegiate-record 50.03. Kendall Baisden posted the No. 2 time, while Briana Nelson came in at No. 4 – all of whom joined two-time defending national champion, fifth-ranked Ashley Spencer.

WOMEN’S TOP FIVE
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Texas
382.88 pts Florida
346.45 pts Oregon329.97 pts Texas A&M
310.31 pts Kentucky
259.60 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings


While the Longhorns rose, the Florida Gators fell. The Gators checked in at 346.45, down nearly 26 points from last time to slide to No. 2.

Jenna Prandini’s second-ranked 200 and eighth-ranked long jump propelled No. 3 Oregon closer to the top two, as the Ducks gained nearly 37 points to come in at 329.27. No. 4 Texas A&M (310.31) gained 27 behind No. 3 Shamier Little at 400 meters and Janeil Bellille in the 400-meter hurdles.

Kentucky (259.60) logged the biggest improvement to its score of any top-five team – a 43-point gain – to slide back into the No. 5 position and round out the top five.

The farthest move up the rankings came courtesy of No. 14 Texas Tech, which jumped up 13 positions to settle in right behind defending national champion No. 13 Kansas.

MEN’S TOP FIVE
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Florida
360.56 pts Texas A&M
278.77 pts Oregon
278.66 pts Arkansas
240.31 pts Texas Tech
171.18 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings


Despite finishing a distant third at the SEC Championships, the Florida men were able to grow their lead over No. 2 Texas A&M – and now No. 3 Oregon – to nearly 80 team rankings points. Behind a top-ranked triple jump showing from Marquis Dendy and the No. 6 time at 800 meters from Ryan Schnulle, the Gators improved by nearly 32 points to 360.56.

SEC Champion No. 2 Texas A&M (278.77) also improved by more than 17 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with rival Florida, and was just barely enough to keep ahead of No. 3 Oregon (278.66) as the Ducks improved by nearly 50 points.

A pair of second-ranked national performances from quarter-miler Mike Berry and distance runner Edward Cheserek (1500 meters) were the wind underneath Oregon’s wings.

No. 4 Arkansas (240.31) and Big 12 Champ No. 5 Texas Tech (171.18) – up a position from a week ago – both recorded double-digit gains to their team rankings scores to round out the top five. A trio of teams wait just beyond in No. 6 Georgia (168.86), No. 7 Texas (165.96) and No. 8 LSU (164.63).

Behind National Athlete of the Week Lawi Lalang, the Arizona men were this week’s biggest gainer. The Wildcats improved 14 positions to No. 22. No. 24 Auburn also made a significant move with a 10-position climb from a week ago.

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 #7 — May 20
next ranking: May 27 (pre-NCAA prelims)

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Florida 360.56 SEC Mike Holloway (12th) 1
2 Texas A&M 278.77 SEC Pat Henry (10th) 2
3 Oregon 278.66 Pac-12 Robert Johnson (2nd) 3
4 Arkansas 240.31 SEC Chris Bucknam (6th) 4
5 Texas Tech 171.18 Big 12 Wes Kittley (15th) 6
6 Georgia 168.86 SEC Wayne Norton (15th) 7
7 Texas 165.96 Big 12 Mario Sategna (1st) 10
8 LSU 164.63 SEC Dennis Shaver (10th) 9
9 Oklahoma State 155.39 Big 12 Dave Smith (6th) 5
10 BYU 150.51 Independent (DI) Ed Eyestone (1st) 8
11 Alabama 142.29 SEC Dan Waters (3rd) 11
12 Baylor 136.85 Big 12 Todd Harbour (9th) 13
13 Mississippi 129.89 SEC Brian O’Neal (2nd) 18
14 Wisconsin 128.67 Big Ten Mick Byrne (1st) 14
15 Southern California 119.72 Pac-12 Caryl Smith Gilbert (1st) 15
16 Penn State 106.02 Big Ten Beth Alford-Sullivan (8th) 17
17 Illinois 104.30 Big Ten Mike Turk (5th) 20
18 Kentucky 97.52 SEC Edrick Floreal (2nd) 19
19 Tennessee 95.80 SEC J.J. Clark (5th) 21
20 UCLA 92.93 Pac-12 Mike Maynard (5th) 12
21 Nebraska 92.83 Big Ten Gary Pepin (31st) 16
22 Arizona 86.25 Pac-12 Fred Harvey (12th) 36
23 Stanford 85.13 Pac-12 Chris Miltenberg (2nd) 22
24 Auburn 76.83 SEC Ralph Spry (17th) 34
25 New Mexico 76.38 Mountain West Joe Franklin (7th) 23
dropped out: No. 24 Pittsburgh, No. 25. Florida State
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 SEC 1830.76 10
2 Big 12 840.57 4
3 Pac-12 827.32 5
4 Big Ten 693.72 4
5 ACC 440.83
6 Conference USA 279.68
7 Sun Belt 205.31
8 Mountain West 190.69 1
9 Mid-American 180.46
10 Ivy 175.67



USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION I
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #7 — May 20
next ranking: May 27 (pre-NCAA prelims)

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Texas 382.88 Big 12 Mario Sategna (1st) 2
2 Florida 346.45 SEC Mike Holloway (7th) 1
3 Oregon 329.97 Pac-12 Robert Johnson (2nd) 3
4 Texas A&M 310.31 SEC Pat Henry (10th) 4
5 Kentucky 259.60 SEC Edrick Floreal (2nd) 6
6 LSU 207.33 SEC Dennis Shaver (10th) 7
7 Georgia 202.59 SEC Wayne Norton (15th) 5
8 Arkansas 202.44 SEC Lance Harter (24th) 8
9 Southern California 164.76 Pac-12 Caryl Smith Gilbert (1st) 11
10 Florida State 146.50 ACC Bob Braman (11th) 9
11 Stanford 145.99 Pac-12 Chris Miltenberg (2nd) 10
12 Baylor 115.64 Big 12 Todd Harbour (9th) 14
13 Kansas 113.21 Big 12 Stanley Redwine (14th) 16
14 Texas Tech 109.31 Big 12 Wes Kittley (15th) 27
15 Arizona 104.89 Pac-12 Fred Harvey (12th) 12
16 Penn State 100.24 Big Ten Beth Alford-Sullivan (15th) 15
17 Missouri 96.65 SEC Brett Halter (4th) 13
18 Michigan 96.22 Big Ten James Henry (29th) 26
19 San Diego State 89.14 Mountain West Shelia Burrell (5th) 18
20 Arizona State 83.02 Pac-12 Greg Kraft (18th) 17
21 Boise State 81.26 Mountain West Corey Ihmels (1st) 29
22 Kansas State 75.63 Big 12 Cliff Rovelto (22nd) 21
23 NC State 74.41 ACC Rollie Geiger (30th) 22
24 Kent State 74.21 Mid-American Bill Lawson (9th) 25
25 Nebraska 72.35 Big Ten Gary Pepin (34th) 28
droppped out: No. 19 Mississippi State, No. 20 Virginia Tech, No. 23 Western Kentucky, No. 24 Colorado
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25




Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 SEC 1848.32 7
2 Pac-12 1028.74 5
3 Big 12 995.49 5
4 ACC 596.77 2
5 Big Ten 471.64 3
6 Conference USA 259.07
7 Mid-American 236.46 1
8 Mountain West 226.98 2
9 Ivy 146.70
10 American 141.54





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