THE CONNING TOWER by Keith Conning: New Faces Dot Top-5 of NCAA DIII National Team Rankings

February 23, 2016

NEW ORLEANS — The balance of power on one side of the National Team Computer Rankings, as released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), in NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field is perfectly clear. The other? Not so much.

NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
UW-Eau Claire	UW-La Crosse	UW-Whitewater	St. Olaf	Monmouth (Ill.)
146.67 pts	131.79 pts	96.95 pts	96.79 pts	96.42 pts
View Complete Men’s National Coaches’ Poll

NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Illinois-Wesleyan	Nebraska-Wesleyan	MIT	UW-Eau Claire	UW-La Crosse
144.89 pts	114.04 pts	101.87 pts	98.70 pts	88.24 pts
View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

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After some reshuffling in the men’s rankings, the state of Wisconsin boasts the top-3 programs in the nation — No. 1 UW-Eau Claire, No. 2 UW-La Crosse (up from No. 3 last week) and No. 3 UW-Whitewater (down from No. 2).
In the women’s rankings, no state owns a true stake in the proceedings — but Nebraska Wesleyan is making quite the charge at the No. 1 spot. The Prairie Wolves vaulted from No. 6 to No. 2 this week behind top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan.
Overall, there are three teams in the women’s rankings with more than 100 points — Illinois Wesleyan (144.89), Nebraska Wesleyan (114.04) and No. 3 MIT (101.87) — compared to only two men’s teams — UW-Eau Claire (146.67) and UW-La Crosse (131.79).
Points in the National Team Computer Rankings are based off placement in the descending order lists. The higher an athlete sits on the list, the more points he or she adds to his or her team’s total. These points do not reflect placement or scoring at the NCAA Championships, but show the individuals and teams that have the best chances at scoring well at said meet.
Note: The National Team Computer Rankings should not be referred to as a “poll” since no voting occurs during the process.
Starting with the men’s rankings, UW-La Crosse cut into UW-Eau Claire’s lead this past weekend at the Wisconsin Red & White Open and the UW-Stevens Point Eastbay Open. It was in those meets that Ernest Winters (now top-10 nationally in the 60 and 200), Cyrus Mason (top-6 in the 400), Nathan Berg (top-6 in the weight throw) and two relay teams (4×400, DMR) turned in strong performances.
St. Olaf surged from No. 9 last week to No. 4 this week after its DMR team turned in Division III’s third fastest time (10:02.06). This is the highest ranking in program history for Phil Lundin’s men.
Speaking of DMR teams, Washington (Mo.) really showed off its speed at the Illinois College Alumni Classic. The Bears, who jumped from No. 39 to No. 17, posted the nation’s fastest time in the event (9:59.23) and broke a school record.
Wheaton (Ill.)‘s 4×400 team moved up to fifth on the descending order list and pushed its team into the top-25 for the first time in program history.
Looking at the women’s rankings, Nebraska Wesleyan ascended to No. 2 behind several top-6 efforts. Samantha Dolezal (weight throw) and Ashton Rakow (60 hurdles) are each second nationally in their respective events, while Katie Krick is now sixth in the 400.
Two other women’s teams soared incredible lengths from one week to the next. Buffalo State went from No. 74 last week to No. 17 this week and Southern Maine bounded 20 spots from No. 43 to No. 23. The former saw Niasha Houpe take over the national lead in the long jump and Jazlyn Porter earn fifth in the same event. The latter will rely on senior Peyton Dostie to either come through in the pentathlon (fourth nationally now) or 60 hurdles (fourth as well).
The NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held March 11-12 in Grinnell, Iowa.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III
Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
2016 Week #5 — February 23
next ranking: March 1

Rank	Institution	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	UW-Eau Claire	146.67	WIAC	Chip Schneider (14th)	1
2	UW-La Crosse	131.79	WIAC	Josh Buchholtz (8th)	3
3	UW-Whitewater	96.95	WIAC	Mike Johnson (7th)	2
4	St. Olaf	96.79	MIAC	Phil Lundin (8th)	9
5	Monmouth (Ill.)	96.42	Midwest	Roger Haynes (33rd)	5
6	Mount Union	85.63	OAC	Kevin Lucas (6th)	4
7	Tufts	75.94	NESCAC	Joel Williams (1st)	6
8	MIT	74.26	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (26th)	7
9	North Central (Ill.)	69.34	CCIW	Frank Gramarosso (6th)	8
10	Haverford	69.15	Centennial	Tom Donnelly (41st)	14
11	Widener	68.75	Middle Atlantic	Vince Touey (29th)	10
12	Williams	62.80	NESCAC	Ethan Barron (1st)	11
13	UW-Oshkosh	58.67	WIAC	Ben Dorsey (1st)	13
14	St. John Fisher	54.33	Empire 8	Mike Henchen (4th)	12
15	Wesley	52.25	CAC	Stephen Kimes (4th)	15
16	SUNY Cortland	47.92	SUNYAC	Steve Patrick (9th)	17
17	Washington (Mo.)	47.16	UAA	Jeff Stiles (15th)	39
18	Ohio Wesleyan	41.14	NCAC	Kris Boey (14th)	18
19	Baldwin Wallace	39.04	OAC	Matthew Cole (1st)	16
20	Wheaton (Ill.)	37.89	CCIW	Scott Bradley (16th)	31
21	Nazareth	37.42	Empire 8	James Goss (6th)	20
22	Central (Iowa)	37.35	IIAC	Joe Dunham (8th)	25
23	UW-Platteville	36.51	WIAC	Chris Rotzenberg (4th)	19
24	Puget Sound	36.06	Northwest	Mike Orechia (19th)	22
25	UW-Stout	36.04	WIAC	Kyle Steiner (3rd)	24
Dropped out: No. 21 Salisbury, No. 23 SUNY Oneonta
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	WIAC	558.25	6
2	NESCAC	227.10	2
3	MIAC	174.88	1
4	OAC	151.51	2
5	SUNYAC	147.00	1
6	CCIW	143.36	2
7	Empire 8	120.18	2
8	UAA	114.68	1
9	CAC	113.40	1
10	Midwest Conference	112.46	1

Men’s Regional Index Leaders
Region	Institution	Points	Last Week
Atlantic	SUNY Cortland	238.10	1
Central	Nebraska Wesleyan	283.21	1
Great Lakes	Mount Union	320.21	1
Mideast	Widener	297.45	1
Midwest	UW-La Crosse	413.29	1
New England	MIT	430.51	1
South/Southeast	Christopher Newport	473.77	1
West	George Fox	343.49	2
View All Regional Rankings

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III
Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
2016 Week #5 — February 23
next ranking: March 1

Rank	Institution	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	Illinois Wesleyan	144.89	CCIW	Chris Schumacher (19th)	1
2	Nebraska Wesleyan	114.04	Great Plains	Ted Bulling (29th)	6
3	MIT	101.87	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (9th)	2
4	UW-Eau Claire	98.70	WIAC	Chip Schneider (10th)	4
5	UW-La Crosse	88.24	WIAC	Pat Healy (25th)	5
6	Baldwin Wallace	84.82	OAC	Matthew Cole (1st)	7
7	SUNY Oneonta	80.75	SUNYAC	Angelo Posillico (3rd)	3
8	Washington (Mo.)	79.96	UAA	Jeff Stiles (15th)	8
9	Stevens	71.15	Empire 8	Justin Wood (4th)	9
10	St. Lawrence	68.31	Liberty League	Kate Curran (8th)	11
11	UW-Oshkosh	57.93	WIAC	Ben Dorsey (4th)	10
12	St. Norbert	52.27	Midwest	Don Augustine (9th)	14
13	Ithaca	50.60	Empire 8	Jennifer Potter (13th)	16
14	UW-Stout	47.49	WIAC	Kyle Steiner (3rd)	15
15	Williams	46.35	NESCAC	Nate Hoey (3rd)	12
16	UW-Platteville	45.73	WIAC	Chris Rotzenberg (4th)	17
17	Buffalo State	45.39	SUNYAC	Eugene Lewis (16th)	74
18	Middlebury	43.22	NESCAC	Martin Beatty (28th)	13
19	Chicago	42.37	UAA	Chris Hall (15th)	20
20	Denison	38.81	NCAC	Mark FitzPatrick (5th)	19
21	Bowdoin	38.65	NESCAC	Peter Slovenski (30th)	21
22	UMass Boston	36.33	Little East	Consandria Walker (6th)	24
23	Southern Maine	35.92	Little East	George Towle (19th)	43
24	Oberlin	32.09	NCAC	Ray Appenheimer (10th)	23
25	Westminster (Pa.)	31.47	PAC	Tim McNeil (9th)	29
Dropped out: No. 18 Johns Hopkins, No. 22 Rowan, No. 25 Central (Iowa)
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	WIAC	373.91	5
2	CCIW	206.26	1
3	NESCAC	204.35	3
4	SUNYAC	174.78	2
5	OAC	167.49	1
6	NEWMAC	162.89	1
7	UAA	152.20	2
8	Empire 8	141.87	2
9	NCAC	117.46	2
10	Great Plains	114.04	1

Women’s Regional Index Leaders
Region	Institution	Points	Last Week
Atlantic	Ithaca	270.67	2
Central	Nebraska Wesleyan	413.12	1
Great Lakes	Mount Union	280.39	1
Mideast	Johns Hopkins	355.07	1
Midwest	Illinois Wesleyan	319.51	1
New England	MIT	411.96	1
South/Southeast	Emory	502.14	1
West	Whitworth	402.51	1
View All Regional Rankings