Oregon Holds Commanding Lead in Pre-Championship DI Women’s ITF Rankings

By Curtis Akey, USTFCCCA

March 6, 2017

NOTE: Only USTFCCCA member programs are eligible for rankings. Please check your membership status HERE.
NEW ORLEANS — While there is some parity in the Pre-Championship Division I Men’s Indoor Track & Field Rankings, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Monday, the same cannot be said for the women’s side, as Oregon holds a 70.08 point lead over 2nd-place Arkansas.
What remains to be seen, though, is if these rankings will hold when it matters most: at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, which take place this weekend in College Station, Texas, at Gilliam Indoor Stadium.
OregonArkansasGeorgiaLSUKentucky

NCAA Division I National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women
1	2	3	4	5

While the Ducks have separated themselves handily in rankings, the gap between them and the Razorbacks in terms of national championship entrants is much slimmer. Oregon hopes to capture its 7th title in the last eight years as it leads the way with 15 total entrants to the meet. But Arkansas – who spoiled Oregon’s chances in 2015 for a 6th-consecutive title – has 13 entrants, giving pause to those who may feel that Oregon was set to run away with the championship.
Unfortunately for spectators, there aren’t many head-to-head matchups between the two programs slated for the weekend. Other than the 4×400 relay, distance medley relay and the 3000 meters, there isn’t any crossover between Arkansas and Oregon in events, as the Ducks are sprint-heavy, while Arkansas has a majority of its entrants tied up in jumps and combined events.
And even with Oregon and Arkansas leading the pack in national qualifiers, other teams are incredibly close to the total of the Ducks and Razorbacks, posing a threat for the championship.
LSU (13) and Kentucky (10) – who happen to rank 4th and 5th, respectively, in the pre-championship rankings – are the only other schools with double-digit entrants. Georgia sits at 3rd in the rankings, down a spot from a week ago, and they have entered nine athletes into this weekend’s competition. Like its SEC counterparts, Alabama also has nine athletes entered into the championships, with the Crimson Tide coming in ranked at 7th.
Southern California (6th), Ole Miss (8th), Texas (9th) and Texas A&M (10th) round out the top-10 of the rankings with 8, 5, 6 and 5 athletes entered into the national championships, respectively.

More Info NCAA Division I Rankings Central
NATIONAL PDFs Top 25 \| By Team \| By Event Top TFRRS Qualifiers # of Top-10 Athletes by Team Rankings History This Season By Rank \| All-Time	NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS WHEN: March 10-11 \| Schedule WHERE: College Station, Texas (Gilliam Indoor Stadium) Meet Entries: MEN \| WOMEN Entry Leaders: By Team \| By Conf USTFCCCA’s Comprehensive Championships History Men’s Records:NCAA Meet \| Collegiate \| American \| World Women’s Records:NCAA Meet \| Collegiate \| American \| World

Oregon should rack up points in the sprints with the likes of Hannah Cunliffe, Deajah Stevens and Ariana Washington lined up for the 60 meters and 200 meters, but LSU could score major points in the 60 meters with Mikiah Brisco, Kortnei Johnson, Aleia Hobbs, Cassondra Hall and Jada Martin slated to compete. Kentucky could also make a push for an upset in the 60 meters, as Javianne Oliver ranks 2nd in the nation in the event heading into the weekend.
Sasha Wallace and Alaysha Johnson should also come through in the clutch in the 60 hurdles for Oregon. Wallace has the top time in the nation on the season, coming in six one-hundredths of a second faster than 2nd-place Devynne Charlton from Purdue.
Oregon is also loaded in the 3000 meters, as Division I leader Katie Rainsberger is one of three Ducks competing in the event. Rainsberger is also member of Oregon’s national-leading distance medley relay squad.
What Arkansas lacks on the track, it makes up for in the field events. After winning the first women’s indoor title in program history in 2015, the Razorbacks will go to battle this weekend with a stacked deck. Twin pole vaulters Lexi and Tori Weeks are 1-2 in the nation in their event, while fellow sophomore Desiree Freier enters ranked 6th in the nation. The Razorbacks also own three of the top-5 pentathletes entered in the meet in Taliyah Brooks (2nd – 4450 points), Leigha Brown (3rd – 4379 points) and Kelsey Herman (5th – 4278 points).
Can Georgia get over that 3rd-place hump? Having finished in 3rd during the last three seasons, the Bulldogs will rely heavily for points in the jumps with Keturah Orji leading the way in the triple jump, as well as in the long jump. Madeline Fagan and Tatiana Gusin own the top-2 marks in the high jump in the nation, and do-it-all pentathlete Kendell Williams enters the meet with the 2nd-best point total in Division I history set just a week ago at the SEC Indoor Championships.
It’s not as clear cut as one would think. While Oregon is certainly favored, expect a battle down to the wire between the Ducks, Razorbacks and even Bulldogs. Should Oregon get the job done and win its 7th title in eight years, it will become the first Division I women’s indoor program to accomplish that feat. The Ducks are currently tied with LSU as being the only Division I women’s indoor programs to win six titles in seven years, as LSU did so in 1991 and again from 1993-97.
Live results and live video of the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will be made available in the National Championship Central page of the USTFCCCA site.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
2017 Week #7 — March 6 (pre-championships)
next ranking: none, NCAA Championships, March 10-11 (FINAL)

Rank	Institution	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	Last Week
1	Oregon	239.65	MPSF	Robert Johnson (5th)	1
2	Arkansas	169.57	SEC	Lance Harter (27th)	3
3	Georgia	165.74	SEC	Petros Kyprianou (2nd)	2
4	LSU	132.22	SEC	Dennis Shaver (13th)	4
5	Kentucky	101.84	SEC	Edrick Floreal (5th)	5
6	Southern California	81.63	MPSF	Caryl Smith Gilbert (4th)	6
7	Alabama	81.19	SEC	Dan Waters (6th)	7
8	Ole Miss	72.94	SEC	Connie Price-Smith (2nd)	9
9	Texas	68.91	Big 12	Mario Sategna (4th)	8
10	Texas A&M	64.94	SEC	Pat Henry (13th)	11
11	Florida	64.11	SEC	Mike Holloway (10th)	12
12	Miami (Fla.)	63.12	ACC	Amy Deem (27th)	10
13	Kansas State	58.36	Big 12	Cliff Rovelto (25th)	13
14	Purdue	56.31	Big Ten	Rolando Greene (5th)	15
15	Baylor	54.53	Big 12	Todd Harbour (12th)	16
16	Penn State	53.01	Big Ten	John Gondak (3rd)	17
17	BYU	43.64	MPSF	Ed Eyestone (4th)	19
18	Iowa State	41.05	Big 12	Martin Smith (4th)	20
19	Indiana	35.86	Big Ten	Ron Helmer (10th)	14
20	Colorado	35.75	MPSF	Mark Wetmore (22nd)	18
21	Michigan	35.32	Big Ten	James Henry (32nd)	21
22	Stanford	33.48	MPSF	Chris Miltenberg (5th)	22
23	Furman	33.34	Southern	Robert Gary (6th)	24
24	Villanova	33.23	Big East	Gina Procaccio (17th)	23
25	San Diego State	29.56	Mountain West	Shelia Burrell (8th)	27
dropped out: No. 25 Louisville
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	SEC	949.10	8
2	MPSF	511.12	5
3	Big 12	293.87	4
4	Big Ten	275.76	4
5	ACC	215.17	1
6	Mountain West	82.89	1
7	Mid-American	60.41
8	Big East	47.47	1
9	Conference USA	39.49
10	Southern	37.72	1

Women’s Regional Index Leaders (FINAL)
Region	Institution	Points	Last Week
Great Lakes	Purdue	358.20	1
Mid-Atlantic	Penn State	514.88	1
Midwest	Minnesota	285.07	2
Mountain	Texas Tech	384.36	2
Northeast	Harvard	326.95	1
South	Georgia	320.52	1
South Central	Arkansas	536.84	1
Southeast	Kentucky	436.94	1
West	Oregon	569.35	1
View All Regional Rankings

Women’s #EventSquad Leaders (Best Foursome in the Country By Event)

Event	Institution	Squad Average		Squad Total
60 Meters	Oregon	7.21		28.84
200 Meters	Oregon	22.95		1:31.78
400 Meters	Southern California	52.62		3:30.47
800 Meters	Virginia Tech	2:05.56		8:22.25
Mile	Villanova	4:37.18		18:28.72
3000 Meters	Oregon	9:07.58		36:30.33
5000 Meters	Colorado	16:07.83		1:4:31.32
60 Meter Hurdles	LSU	8.21		32.84
High Jump	Georgia	1.85m	6-¾	7.39m	24-3
Pole Vault	Arkansas	4.33m	14-2¼	17.31m	56-9½
Long Jump	Georgia	6.43m	21-1	25.70m	84-4
Triple Jump	Florida	13.24m	43-5½	52.97m	173-9
Shot Put	Miami (Ohio)	15.43m	50-7½	61.71m	202-5
Weight Throw	Minnesota	19.80m	64-11¾	79.21m	259-10
Pentathlon	Arkansas	4,218		16,873