By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA
March 23, 2016
NEW ORLEANS — At the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships last year, both UW-La Crosse teams returned to prominence in dominant fashion.
|
|
If the calculations of the National Team Computer Rankings are correct, UW-La Crosse could add two more pieces of hardware to its trophy case in 2016. According to the preseason rankings, which were released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the Eagles are heavily favored to sweep again this season.
UW-La Crosse’s men are more than 55 points up on second-place UW-Whitewater, last year’s third-place team. The Eagles tallied 171.49 points compared to the Warhawks’ 112.51, while last year’s runner-up UW-Eau Claire sits third with 111.70.
In the women’s rankings, UW-La Crosse owns an even healthier advantage. The Eagles earned 181.08 points, 60.45 more than second-ranked 2016 indoor champs Baldwin Wallace. Third-ranked Washington (Mo.) and fourth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan are the two other women’s teams with more than 100 points.
Points in the National Team Computer Rankings are calculated using descending order lists. The higher an athlete is ranked on the list, the more points he or she provides her team. Since there isn’t enough data from the current season, marks from previous outdoor seasons are included until enough data can be collected from the current season.
Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. A full description of the rankings can be found here.
Note: The National Team Computer Rankings should not be referred to as a poll since no voting occurs during the process.
Men’s Rankings
One look at the returning talent the UW-La Crosse has and it’s easy to see why the team is favored to repeat.The Eagles have seven top-5 marks in the combined descending order lists, led by the top-ranked 4×100 relay team in the nation. Outside of that relay — and the third-ranked 4×400 team — here are UW-La Crosse’s highly-ranked individuals: Ross Denman (2nd 400 meters), Zak Wallenfang (3rd 400 hurdles), Matt Eidenschink (4th steeplechase), Alex Koenen (4th 100 meters) and Daniel Otto (5th 110 hurdles).
UW-Whitewater should be led by the tremendous trio of Theron Baumann, Robert Starnes and Parker Witt. Baumann (shot put, discus) and Starnes (high jump, long jump) are both forces in the field, while Witt should contribute major points in the 100 meters and 200 meters.
For UW-Eau Claire to complete the fabled "Triple Crown" (titles in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, all in the same academic year), its athletes must continue to step up in crunch time. The Blugolds will look to thrower Alex Mess, distance runners Christian Leitner, Ryan Mugan and Josh Thorson as well as the strong relay teams to carry them come May.
Monmouth (Ill.) and UW-Stevens Point shot into the top-5 for the first time in program history this early in the season. The Scots, headlined by Ethan Reschke (1st 200 meters, 3rd 400 meters) and Pointers, led by junior jumper Jerry Williams, went from unranked and 33rd to fourth and fifth, respectively.
Rounding out the top-10 in the men’s rankings are sixth-ranked North Central (Ill.), No. 7 St. Olaf, No. 8 Williams, No. 9 UW-Oshkosh and No. 10 Salisbury.
Teams making huge strides in the preseason rankings also include Rowan (13th), Aurora (14th), George Fox (17th) and Wesley (20th).
Women’s Rankings
When a team has six individuals and/or relays ranked in the top-2, it’s hard to not call it the favorite.That’s the case with UW-La Crosse in the women’s rankings.
The Eagles are led by Meg Heafy (1st 100 meters, 1st 200 meters), Bria Halama (1st triple jump, 2nd 400 meters) and its pair of second-ranked relay teams (4×100, 4×400). Throw in Claire Gordee in the 100 hurdles and Meaghan Howell in the pole vault and UW-La Crosse is loaded.
It would be impossible, however, to count out Baldwin Wallace. The Yellow Jackets did just win the indoor title thanks to performance of Kim Gallavan and Melanie Winters, both of whom are poised for big outdoor seasons.
Washington (Mo.) and Illinois Wesleyan settled in behind Baldwin Wallace (120.63), but both aren’t too far behind. The Bears, led by Kelli Hancock, Daisy Ogede and Emily Warner, tallied 118.71 points, while the Titans, with a squadron of field athletes and Nia Joiner, compiled 116.84.
Fifth-ranked MIT sits in familiar territory, since that’s where the Engineers placed last year at NCAAs.
Two teams found themselves in the top-10 this early in the season for the first time in a few years — Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Rowan. The former started out as No. 7 in 2012, while the latter earned a third-place billing to star tthe 2014 season.
Nebraska Wesleyan, UW-Stout, Ohio Wesleyan and SUNY Oneonta all came out of relative obscurity at the end of the 2015 season (read: ranked outside of the top-50) to land in the preseason top-25.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division III | |||||
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) | |||||
2016 Preseason — March 23 | |||||
next ranking: TUESDAY, April 5 | |||||
Rank | Institution | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | 2015 FINAL |
1 | UW-La Crosse | 171.49 | WIAC | Josh Buchholtz (8th) | 1 |
2 | UW-Whitewater | 112.51 | WIAC | Mike Johnson (7th) | 3 |
3 | UW-Eau Claire | 111.70 | WIAC | Chip Schneider (14th) | 2 |
4 | Monmouth (Ill.) | 90.80 | Midwest | Roger Haynes (33rd) | NR |
5 | UW-Stevens Point | 86.73 | WIAC | Rick Witt (37th) | 33 |
6 | North Central (Ill.) | 80.72 | CCIW | Frank Gramarosso (6th) | 7 |
7 | St. Olaf | 75.79 | MIAC | Phil Lundin (8th) | 5 |
8 | Williams | 75.30 | NESCAC | Ethan Barron (1st) | 12 |
9 | UW-Oshkosh | 73.36 | WIAC | Ben Dorsey (1st) | 39 |
10 | Salisbury | 68.02 | CAC | Jim Jones (17th) | 4 |
11 | Whitworth | 67.30 | Northwes | Toby Schwarz (20th) | 19 |
12 | UW-Platteville | 64.64 | WIAC | Chris Rotzenberg (4th) | 7 |
13 | Rowan | 61.72 | NJAC | Dustin Dimit (2nd) | 43 |
14 | Aurora | 61.59 | NACC | Ryan Chapman (8th) | 39 |
15 | Occidental | 57.90 | SCIAC | Robert Bartlett (11th) | 27 |
16 | Augustana (Ill.) | 57.60 | CCIW | Paul Olsen (47th) | 7 |
17 | George Fox | 54.36 | Northwest | John Smith (10th) | 61 |
18 | St. Scholastica | 50.26 | UMAC | Kirk Nauman (9th) | 49 |
19 | Mount Union | 49.49 | OAC | Kevin Lucas (6th) | 15 |
20 | Wesley | 49.07 | CAC | Stephen Kimes (4th) | 74 |
21 | Wabash | 46.02 | NCAC | Clyde Morgan (8th) | 27 |
22 | Rhode Island College | 45.34 | Little East | Kevin Jackson (15th) | 23 |
23 | Widener | 45.07 | Middle Atlantic | Vince Touey (29th) | 43 |
24 | RPI | 45.04 | Liberty League | Colin Tory (16th) | 49 |
25 | UW-Stout | 44.58 | WIAC | Kyle Steiner (3rd) | 11 |
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 |
Men’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
1 | WIAC | 701.65 | 7 |
2 | CCIW | 221.10 | 2 |
3 | SCIAC | 191.96 | 1 |
4 | Northwest Conference | 190.45 | 2 |
5 | MIAC | 188.11 | 1 |
6 | NESCAC | 153.96 | 1 |
7 | CAC | 147.28 | 2 |
8 | NCAC | 138.64 | 1 |
9 | Middle Atlantic | 134.42 | 1 |
10 | SUNYAC | 134.41 |
Men’s Regional Index Leaders | |||
Region | Institution | Points | Last Week |
Atlantic | returns April 5 | ||
Central | returns April 5 | ||
Great Lakes | returns April 5 | ||
Mideast | returns April 5 | ||
Midwest | returns April 5 | ||
New England | returns April 5 | ||
South/Southeast | returns April 5 | ||
West | returns April 5 | ||
View All Regional Rankings |
USTFCCCA NCAA Division III | |||||
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) | |||||
2016 Preseason — March 23 | |||||
next ranking: TUESDAY, April 5 | |||||
Rank | Institution | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | 2015 FINAL |
1 | UW-La Crosse | 181.08 | WIAC | Pat Healy (25th) | 1 |
2 | Baldwin Wallace | 120.63 | OAC | Matthew Cole (1st) | 8 |
3 | Washington (Mo.) | 118.71 | UAA | Jeff Stiles (15th) | 3 |
4 | Illinois Wesleyan | 116.84 | CCIW | Chris Schumacher (19th) | 4 |
5 | MIT | 99.32 | NEWMAC | Halston Taylor (9th) | 5 |
6 | UW-Eau Claire | 97.70 | WIAC | Chip Schneider (10th) | 2 |
7 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 87.44 | SCIAC | Kelly Beck (2nd) | 17 |
8 | Rowan | 84.06 | NJAC | Derick “Ringo” Adamson (9th) | 57 |
9 | UW-Oshkosh | 75.03 | WIAC | Ben Dorsey (4th) | 7 |
10 | North Central (Ill.) | 67.45 | CCIW | Kari Kluckhohn (13th) | 6 |
11 | Williams | 66.44 | NESCAC | Nate Hoey (3rd) | 21 |
12 | Nebraska Wesleyan | 66.10 | Great Plains | Ted Bulling (29th) | 51 |
13 | UW-Platteville | 62.75 | WIAC | Chris Rotzenberg (4th) | 40 |
14 | St. Thomas (Minn.) | 62.05 | MIAC | Joe Sweeney (36th) | 22 |
15 | UW-Stevens Point | 61.16 | WIAC | Brett Witt (2nd) | 22 |
16 | UW-Stout | 56.45 | WIAC | Kyle Steiner (3rd) | 73 |
17 | Cornell College | 54.95 | Midwest | Dan Schofer (4th) | 10 |
18 | Whitworth | 52.09 | Northwest | Toby Schwarz (20th) | 13 |
19 | Luther | 51.29 | IIAC | Jeffrey Wettach (10th) | 12 |
20 | Lehman | 49.19 | CUNYAC | Pete Charles (4th) | 19 |
21 | SUNY Oneonta | 48.90 | SUNYAC | Angelo Posillico (3rd) | NR |
22 | Ohio Wesleyan | 47.65 | NCAC | Kris Boey (14th) | 73 |
23 | Denison | 46.04 | NCAC | Mark FitzPatrick (5th) | 22 |
24 | Carleton | 45.90 | MIAC | Donna Ricks (23rd) | 46 |
25 | St. Lawrence | 45.11 | Liberty League | Kate Curran (8th) | 8 |
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 |
Women’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
1 | WIAC | 561.96 | 6 |
2 | CCIW | 229.21 | 2 |
3 | OAC | 215.78 | 1 |
4 | NESCAC | 200.10 | 1 |
5 | SCIAC | 187.82 | 1 |
6 | IIAC | 186.66 | 1 |
7 | UAA | 167.62 | 1 |
8 | MIAC | 154.98 | 2 |
9 | NCAC | 154.01 | 2 |
10 | NEWMAC | 146.73 | 1 |
Women’s Regional Index Leaders (FINAL) | |||
Region | Institution | Points | Last Week |
Atlantic | returns April 5 | ||
Central | returns April 5 | ||
Great Lakes | returns April 5 | ||
Mideast | returns April 5 | ||
Midwest | returns April 5 | ||
New England | returns April 5 | ||
South/Southeast | returns April 5 | ||
West | returns April 5 | ||
View All Regional Rankings |
No comments:
Post a Comment