Rankings bump for Central track and field squads

Central College

PELLA — The Central College women’s and men’s track and field programs jumped up a few spots in this week’s USTFCCA National Team Computer Rankings after solid showings at last weekend’s Iowa Conference Indoor Championships.

Points in the National Team Computer Rankings are based off placement in the National Descending Order Lists. Those lists are organized by top finishes of Division III athletes in each event that will be contested at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships. 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 is to show the individuals and teams that have the best chances at scoring well at said meet.

A week after dropping out of the rankings, the Dutch women rejoined at No. 23. Central finished in third place at the conference meet, but just two points out of second place. Illinois Wesleyan maintains the top ranking for the second week. The rest of the top three had a serious shakeup as Wis.-LaCrosse surged from No. 5 to No. 2 and Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) jumped from No. 8 to No. 3. Central is the top-ranked conference school on the list as Wartburg sits at No. 25

Central’s men moved back to No. 20, up from No. 22 last week. The Dutch won the indoor conference meet by a 21.5 point margin over Wartburg. The top three in the men’s rankings remained the same as Wis.-Eau Claire, Wis.-La Crosse and Wis.-Whitewater pace the field. Central is the only Iowa Conference school ranked again this week.

With hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships March 11-12 in Grinnell, a select group of Central athletes are slotted to compete at the Wis.-Platteville Last Chance on Friday, March 4 and the Pointers Qualifier at Wis.-Stevens Point on Saturday, March 5.