Final Computer Rankings: Hosts Arkansas Women Favored For First-Ever Indoor Team Title

By Dennis Young, USTFCCCA

March 9, 2015

NEW ORLEANS – Astonishingly, the SEC – arguably the nation’s best conference in women’s NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field – has only won one indoor national team championship in the last nine years. Oregon has taken the last five, and Tennessee‘s win in 2009 was preceded by a trio of titles from Arizona State and Texas.

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That pattern looks to come to an end at this weekend’s NCAA Division I Indoor Championships, March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as the SEC has the top four teams in the final computer rankings of the 2015 indoor season.
The rankings were compiled and released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Monday. Though very few national qualifiers competed last weekend and the qualifying window ended last weekend, these rankings differ from last week’s in that they only account for actual entries into the national meet.
Arkansas stayed at No. 1, trailed by conference rivals No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Kentucky, and No. 4 Georgia.
At No. 5, Texas is projected to be the first non-SEC team; the defending champion Oregon women are ranked sixth.
About that word "projected." These rankings are not a form chart projection of how many points each team will score at nationals. But the algorithm is a more holistic projection of the teams’ finishing order, taking into account not just where athletes are on the national list, but the likelihood of each athlete finishing in scoring territory.
It’s not foolproof – three of the last five women’s national champions were ranked No. 1 in the final pre-championship computations. For a full breakdown of the rankings process, click here.
Arkansas athletes will have the home track (and runway/ring/cage) advantage as the championships return to Fayetteville after a year in Albuquerque, New Mexico. If Arkansas does deliver on its ranking and wins a national title, it would be a historic one. The Razorbacks have won twenty men’s indoor titles, but zero women’s.
The gap between the descending order lists and the declarations for nationals explains Florida and Kentucky each moving up one spot each at former No. 2 Georgia’s expense. Bulldog phenom Kendell Williams was tipped for serious points in the high jump and long jump, but only declared in the pentathlon.

NCAA Division I National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Arkansas	Florida	Kentucky	Georgia	Texas
View Complete Women’s National Team Rankings

Unlike in the men’s team battle, the teams vying for podium spots will be competing directly against each other in a zero-sum fight for points. Four of the top five teams–everybody except for Georgia–have athletes entered in the 400.
That’s where Texas could make up the most ground, and where the SEC teams will be boxing each other out for single-digit points. Courtney Okolo, Kendell Baisden, and Ashley Spencer of Texas are second, fourth, and eighth on the entry list, but Okolo and Spencer have won the last three NCAA outdoor 400s.
The field events–particularly the triple jump and pentathlon–will go an extremely long way towards determining the national champion.
In the triple jump, Georgia has national leader Keturah Orji, Florida has second-ranked Ciarra Brewer, Arkansas has third-ranked Tamara Myers, and Kentucky has eighth-ranked Sha’Keela Saunders.
The pentathlon features Williams (the national leader and record holder), three Arkansas athletes (No. 6 Alex Gochenour and Nos. T13 Leigha Brown and Taliyah Brooks) and Florida’s eighth-ranked Brittany Harrell.
In addition to the relative yeoman’s work of scratching out mid-pack points, each team with title hopes is going to rely on at least one superstar.
Razorback Dominique Scott, Gator Kyra Jefferson, Wildcat Kendra Harrison, Bulldogs Williams, Orji, and Leontia Kallenou, and the Longhorn 4×400 all have the best marks in their respective events and are favorites for national titles. Those events in which they’re ranked No. 1: Scott in the 3k, Jefferson in the 200, Harrison in the 60-meter hurdles, Williams in the pentathlon, Orji in the triple jump, and Kallenou in the high jump.
Elsewhere in the rankings, No. 23 Arizona State was the only team to join the top twenty-five. The Sun Devils’s seven-spot jump was the biggest rise in the women’s rankings.
The NCAA championships begin Friday, March 13, and will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Here’s the full schedule of events.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
2015 Week #7 — March 9 (pre-championships)
next ranking: final, NCAA Championships, March 13-14

Rank	Institution	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	Arkansas	180.89	SEC	Lance Harter (25th)	1
2	Florida	147.52	SEC	Mike Holloway (8th)	3
3	Kentucky	138.01	SEC	Edrick Floreal (3rd)	4
4	Georgia	137.37	SEC	Wayne Norton (16th)	2
5	Texas	129.08	Big 12	Mario Sategna (2nd)	5
6	Oregon	119.69	MPSF	Robert Johnson (3rd)	7
7	Texas A&M	94.79	SEC	Pat Henry (11th)	8
8	Kansas State	89.07	Big 12	Cliff Rovelto (23rd)	6
9	Baylor	78.95	Big 12	Todd Harbour (10th)	9
10	Southern California	71.46	MPSF	Caryl Smith Gilbert (2nd)	10
11	Michigan State	68.80	Big Ten	Walt Drenth (9th)	11
12	Mississippi State	62.42	SEC	Steve Dudley (5th)	12
13	Georgetown	54.18	Big East	Patrick Henner (8th)	13
14	Wisconsin	53.12	Big Ten	Mick Byrne (2nd)	14
15	LSU	50.22	SEC	Dennis Shaver (11th)	20
16	Clemson	48.11	ACC	Mark Elliott (2nd)	15
17	Providence	47.96	Big East	Ray Treacy (31st)	19
18	Akron	47.37	Mid-American	Dennis Mitchell (20th)	16
19	Missouri	46.74	SEC	Brett Halter (5th)	18
20	Southern Illinois	45.08	Missouri Valley	Connie Price-Smith (14th)	17
21	Florida State	38.67	ACC	Bob Braman (12th)	22
22	Texas Tech	37.52	Big 12	Wes Kittley (16th)	23
23	Arizona State	35.81	MPSF	Greg Kraft (19th)	30
24	Stanford	33.90	MPSF	Chris Miltenberg (3rd)	21
25	Notre Dame	33.78	ACC	Alan Turner (1st)	25
dropped out: No. 24 Iona
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	SEC	934.94	8
2	Big 12	376.80	4
3	MPSF	317.58	4
4	Big Ten	271.00	2
5	ACC	264.45	3
6	Big East	134.49	2
7	Mid-American	72.90	1
8	Missouri Valley	49.61	1
9	Mountain West	37.36
10	Summit League	32.04

Women’s Regional Index Leaders (FINAL)
Region	Institution	Points
Great Lakes	Ohio State	304.14
Mid-Atlantic	Penn State	501.44
Midwest	Kansas State	354.58
Mountain	Texas Tech	385.08
Northeast	Harvard	282.28
South	Florida	420.79
South Central	Arkansas	622.52
Southeast	Kentucky	391.89
West	Oregon	434.10
View All Regional Rankings