Adams State Men & Women Surging Toward the Top of the DII National Team Rankings
NEW ORLEANS – Both the men and women of Adams State are closing in on the top of the outdoor track & field Division II National Team Rankings in the week six edition released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
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While the No. 2 men of ASU surged ever closer to defending outdoor national champion No. 1 Saint Augustine’s, their teammates on the women’s squad made a big two-position surge to No. 2 right on the heels of top-ranked Grand Valley State.
National Athlete of the Week Alicia Nelson’s top-ranked 1500 meter and 5000 meter performances, along with four other top-10 performances this past weekend at multiple meets in California, drove the Adams State women’s team rankings score to 193.17 after a gain of nearly 38 points.
Team rankings scores do not mirror the points systems used at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but rather measure team depth based on their student-athletes’ positioning on the national descending order lists.
No. 1 Grand Valley State (219.26) kept its grip on the top spot with eight performances this weekend ranked in the top 10. The Lakers were the only team in the women’s rankings to hold steady in its position from a week ago
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Newly crowned CIAA champion Johnson C. Smith (165.69) fell one spot to No. 3, Saint Augustine’s (151.45) improved three positions to No. 4 and Lincoln (Mo.) (146.76) rounded out the top five with a two-slot drop.
The bottom half of the top 10 was equally close and active with No. 6 Ashland (134.80) up two spots, No. 7 Angelo State (134.15) down two, No. 8 Central Missouri (122.62) up one, No. 9 Chico State (95.31) down three and No. 10 New Mexico Highlands (88.20) up four.
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Adams State’s men (238.44) made the biggest strides of any top-25 team in terms of team rankings score with a nearly 44-point improvement. Leading the way was Kevin Batt with a DII-leading 1500 meters performance and five other top-10 performances.
CIAA Champions for the 17th consecutive season, the No. 1 Saint Augustine’s men (262.22) saw their team rankings score fall by close to 30 points to make for a 70-point swing when considering Adams State’s rise.
The remained of the top five held firm: No. 3 Texas A&M-Kingsville (184.01), No. 4 Ashland (177.01) and No. 5 Chico State (125.43).
As close as Saint Augustine’s and Adams State are at No. 1 and No. 2, the race for spots six through 10 is even closer with just six points between them.
No. 6 Alaska Anchorage (98.72) jumped five spots, No. 7 Academy of Art (96.25) was down one, No. 8 Minnesota State (95.72) was up six, No. 9 Angelo State (94.28) down two and No. 10 GVSU (92.69) held steady.
The No. 22 U-Mary women made the biggest move of the week with a 14-spot improvement from a week ago, while that distinction on the men’s side went to No. 25 Virginia State with a nine-spot leap.
The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. A full description of the rankings can be found here.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division II |
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Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
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2014 Week #6 — April 22 |
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next ranking: April 29 | |||||
Rank | School | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
1 | Saint Augustine’s | 262.22 | CIAA | George Williams (38th) | 1 |
2 | Adams State | 238.44 | RMAC | Rock Light (1st) | 2 |
3 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 184.01 | Lone Star | Ryan Dall (6th) | 3 |
4 | Ashland | 177.01 | GLIAC | Jud Logan (11th) | 4 |
5 | Chico State | 125.43 | CCAA | Oliver Hanf (2nd) | 5 |
6 | Alaska Anchorage | 98.72 | GNAC | Michael Friess (24th) | 11 |
7 | Academy of Art | 96.25 | PacWest | Charles Ryan (4th) | 6 |
8 | Minnesota State | 95.72 | NSIC | Jim Dilling (1st) | 14 |
9 | Angelo State | 94.28 | Lone Star | James Reid (15th) | 7 |
10 | Grand Valley State | 92.69 | GLIAC | Jerry Baltes (15th) | 10 |
11 | Pittsburg State | 85.15 | MIAA | Russ Jewett (26th) | 8 |
12 | Lincoln (Mo.) | 78.94 | MIAA | Victor Thomas (13th) | 13 |
13 | Findlay | 75.21 | GLIAC | Marc Arce (26th) | 12 |
14 | Colorado Mines | 73.34 | RMAC | Matt Sparks (1st) | 9 |
15 | Tarleton State | 72.56 | Lone Star | Patrick Ponder (8th) | 18 |
16 | Cal State Stanislaus | 67.18 | CCAA | Diljeet Taylor (2nd) | 16 |
17 | Texas A&M-Commerce | 60.68 | Lone Star | Tom Dibbern (1st) | 15 |
18 | Lake Erie | 55.17 | GLIAC | Ryan Rademacher (1st) | 23 |
19 | Central Missouri | 54.07 | MIAA | Kirk Pedersen (18th)/Kip Janvrin (16th) | 20 |
20 | Indianapolis | 53.42 | GLVC | Scott Fangman (17th) | 19 |
21 | Johnson C. Smith | 50.04 | CIAA | Lennox Graham (7th) | 25 |
22 | Emporia State | 49.08 | MIAA | Steve Blocker (3rd) | 26 |
23 | UC San Diego | 45.86 | CCAA | Tony Salerno (15th) | 24 |
24 | Mount Olive | 40.63 | Conf. Carolinas | Matt van Lierop (6th) | 21 |
25 | Virginia State | 40.29 | CIAA | Jason-Lamont Jackson (4th) | 34 |
Dropped out: No. 17 Shippensburg, No. 22 Missouri Southern | |||||
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 |
Men’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
1 | GLIAC | 476.99 | 4 |
2 | Lone Star | 471.66 | 4 |
3 | RMAC | 397.30 | 2 |
4 | CIAA | 376.24 | 3 |
5 | MIAA | 373.93 | 4 |
6 | CCAA | 282.97 | 3 |
7 | GNAC | 149.98 | 1 |
8 | GLVC | 137.99 | 1 |
9 | NSIC | 137.30 | 1 |
10 | PSAC | 107.96 |
USTFCCCA NCAA Division II |
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Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
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2014 Week #6 — April 22 |
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next ranking: April 29 | |||||
Rank | School | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
1 | Grand Valley State | 219.26 | GLIAC | Jerry Baltes (15th) | 1 |
2 | Adams State | 193.17 | RMAC | Rock Light (1st) | 4 |
3 | Johnson C. Smith | 165.59 | CIAA | Lennox Graham (7th) | 2 |
4 | Saint Augustine’s | 151.45 | CIAA | George Williams (38th) | 7 |
5 | Lincoln (Mo.) | 146.76 | MIAA | Victor Thomas (13th) | 3 |
6 | Ashland | 134.80 | GLIAC | Jud Logan (11th) | 8 |
7 | Angelo State | 134.15 | Lone Star | James Reid (15th) | 5 |
8 | Central Missouri | 122.62 | MIAA | Kirk Pedersen (18th)/Kip Janvrin (16th) | 9 |
9 | Chico State | 95.31 | CCAA | Robert Nooney (1st) | 6 |
10 | New Mexico Highlands | 88.20 | RMAC | Bob DeVries (22nd) | 14 |
11 | Alaska Anchorage | 83.25 | GNAC | Michael Friess (24th) | 17 |
12 | Wayne State (Neb.) | 81.82 | NSIC | Marlon Brink (14th) | 13 |
13 | Cal State Stanislaus | 78.46 | CCAA | Diljeet Taylor (2nd) | 10 |
14 | Academy of Art | 77.63 | PacWest | Charles Ryan (4th) | 11 |
15 | Western State | 74.43 | RMAC | Chris Bradford (5th) | 21 |
16 | West Texas A&M | 73.23 | Lone Star | Darren Flowers (5th) | 12 |
17 | Indianapolis | 67.36 | GLVC | Scott Fangman (17th) | 15 |
18 | Pittsburg State | 67.09 | MIAA | Russ Jewett (28th) | 20 |
19 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 66.33 | Lone Star | Ryan Dall (6th) | 18 |
20 | Western Washington | 66.33 | GNAC | Pee Wee Halsell (27th) | 16 |
21 | New Haven | 50.57 | Northeast-10 | Shaunnaya Williams (3rd) | 19 |
22 | U-Mary | 47.20 | NSIC | Mike Thorson (20th) | 36 |
23 | Livingstone | 40.11 | CIAA | Justin Davis (5th) | 24 |
24 | Seattle Pacific | 39.49 | GNAC | Karl Lerum (9th) | 22 |
25 | Lewis | 36.98 | GLVC | Dana Schwarting (9th) | 27 |
Dropped out: No. 23 Tiffin, No. 25 Findlay | |||||
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 |
Women’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
1 | GLIAC | 502.74 | 2 |
2 | MIAA | 490.47 | 3 |
3 | RMAC | 432.45 | 3 |
4 | CIAA | 383.36 | 3 |
5 | Lone Star | 328.46 | 3 |
6 | GNAC | 225.87 | 3 |
7 | CCAA | 210.11 | 2 |
8 | NSIC | 201.69 | 2 |
9 | GLVC | 161.05 | 2 |
10 | Northeast-10 | 111.96 | 1 |