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.

NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
UW-La Crosse	UW-Whitewater	UW-Eau Claire	Monmouth (Ill.)	UW-Stevens Point
171.49 pts	112.51 pts	111.70 pts	90.80 pts	86.73 pts
View Complete Men’s National Team Computer Rankings

NCAA Division III National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
UW-La Crosse	Baldwin Wallace	Washington (Mo.)	Illinois Wesleyan	MIT
181.08 pts	120.63 pts	118.71 pts	116.84 pts	99.32 pts
View Complete Women’s National Team Computer Rankings

More Info

Click below to see the full:

NATIONAL PDFs
Top 25 | By Team | By Event
Top TFRRS Qualifiers
# of Top-10 Athletes by Team
Rankings History
By Rank | By Team | All-Time
Division III Rankings Home

The Eagles swept the national titles as both the men and women won by more than 20 points. It was the men’s first crown since 2013, while the women waited a bit longer to hold up a championship trophy once again (1984).
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