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Southern Cal Women Take Over DI Rankings Amid Mid-Season Shuffle - USTFCCCAPublished by
By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA April 27, 2015
NEW ORLEANS – Fans of collegiate track & field saw the “Edward Cheserek effect” at its peak in the Penn Relays 4xMile Relay this weekend, and now the phenomenon has manifested itself in a different way beyond the track. Week four of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings has historically been moving week; this is when preseason marks (from 2014 or earlier) are removed from the formula that determines the rankings – making it an indication of which teams have performed the best this current season.
Most of those preseason marks are gone. Most, but not all. For the first time in rankings history, preseason marks for the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters will remain in the formula for the duration of the season to attempt to more accurately project the NCAA Championships team races. (Combined event marks also remained, as is customary). Why? Because defending national champion Oregon’s duo of Cheserek and Eric Jenkins – who this year alone were second and first at 5000 meters indoors and went 1-2 in cross country, but whose lone regular season objective outdoors has been to expend as little energy as possible in attaining qualifying times – are currently ranked 59th and 60th at 5000 meters and 22nd and 23rd at 10,000 meters, respectively, based on 2015 results alone. Using the new formula, Jenkins is still No. 24 at 10,000 meters, but Cheserek jumped up to a far more accurate No. 1 at 5000 meters and No. 2 at 10,000 meters (an event in which he is the defending national champion), while Jenkins moved up to No. 2 at 5000.
Even with the change, the Ducks slid down to the periphery of the top five, checking in at No. 5 (though additional X-factors remain for the Ducks in terms of these rankings: a fast 10k for Jenkins, and fast performances for indoor standouts like Will Geoghegan,Johnny Gregorek and Daniel Winn). Without those 2014 performances, Oregon would have fallen beyond the top six. Texas A&M remained atop the men’s rankings with 356.76 team ranking points, followed by the closely bunched foursome of No. 2LSU (295.40), No. 3 Florida (282.64), No. 4 Southern California(248.10), and Oregon (246.33). LSU improved two spots and was the biggest beneficiary of utilizing (mostly) only 2015 marks, while the potential held by Jenkins, Geoghegan, Winn and Gregorek could easily surge the Oregon Ducks forward by year’s end. For all the attention surrounding the Oregon men, the women’s team race was the one most impacted by the removal of preseason data. Southern California (328.43 team points) ascended to No. 1 for the first time in the eight-year history of the rankings, jumping up three positions from a week ago. Behind the Women of Troy – whose best position prior to Monday had been a No. 3 preseason rank in 2012 – was a top ten that features eight teams in new positions – though all of them remain very much in the hunt for national team honors. Reigning indoor national team champion Arkansas (306) charged to No. 2 – another three spot improvement – to displace Florida (264.52) down a spot to No. 3. Though Kentucky’s point total of 247.33 remained relatively unchanged, the Wildcats made the biggest jump in terms of positioning with a four-spot improvement to No. 4, while Georgia (241.93) climbed two spots to round out the top five. The list of title/podium (top-four) contenders doesn’t stop there, though. Historically, teams with more than 200 points have been strong contenders for, if not the national title, the team podium. This week, that list also includes No. 6 Oregon (211.92), No. 7 Texas (209.94) after a four-spot drop, No. 8 LSU (208.40) after a seven-spot rise, and defending national champion No. 9 Texas A&M (194.82), which plummeted from No. 1 to the outskirts of the team race. The Aggies’ fall from the top came as many of the athletes who were vital to their 2014 success have yet to find their stride in 2015, causing the fall from No. 1 in the nation to the sixth-highest ranked team in the SEC. Rounding out the top-10 was Kansas State. Making the biggest jump into the top 25 for either gender were the men of No. 19 Clemson, who improved 39 spots from a week ago. The men of No. 17 Illinois and No. 24 Arizona also made impressive gains, improving 28 and 22 spots, respectively. Only one women’s team inside the top 25 improved by double-digit positions, as 2013 national championKansas gained 12 spots to check in at No. 17. Change was harder to come by at the top of the Regional Team Index. Of the nine regions for both men and women, only the South saw new No. 1 teams for both genders – the Florida men and women – whileCornell’s men took over the Northeast and Kansas State’s women moved to No. 1 in the Midwest. The NCAA Division I Championships will be contested June 10-13 in Eugene, Oregon. All four days will be televised live on the ESPN family of networks – including ESPN on June 12 and ESPN2 on June 13 – for a total of 12 hours, plus an additional 23 hours of live online coverage via ESPN3.
Read the full article at: www.ustfccca.org
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