Husky men & Wildcat women in top 25 in latest USTFCCCA D1 and D2 computer rankings...
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| Washington's Fred Huxham is one of the Huskies' ranked athletes in the latest USTFCCCA computer rankings (Paul Merca photo) |
NEW ORLEANS—With two full weekends of indoor action completed, the USTFCCCA released its national team rankings Monday, and the University of Washington men’s team dropped slightly from its pre-season computer ranking.
The Huskies are ranked number 17 in the current computer rankings, which takes into account personal and season bests of a team’s top athletes measured against the last five years of NCAA championship qualifying and assigned a percentage chance of selection after declarations.
The nation’s top five men’s squads are in order: Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Alabama.
Schools from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in the top 25 included #8 Colorado, #13 USC, #14 Oregon, #16 Stanford, and #19 BYU.
On the women’s side, Oregon, Arkansas, Georgia, USC, and Florida are the nation’s top five teams.
Stanford is the only other school in the MPSF to have a national top-25 ranking, as the Cardinal come in at number 21.
The Central Washington women’s team made a huge leap from the national pre-season ranking released in December to become the only Washington school ranked in the top 25 in the USTFCCCA Division II men’s or women’s national rankings, released Tuesday.
The Wildcats sit at number 24, which is the highest the school has been ranked since the start of the national computer rankings by the USTFCCCA.
The top five women’s schools in Division II are Grand Valley State, Lincoln (MO), Adams State, Pittsburg State, and San Francisco State.
Simon Fraser at number 15 is the only other Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) school ranked.
Colorado Mines, Tiffin, Ashland, Grand Valley State, and Adams State are the top five men’s schools. No GNAC schools made the top 25.
The national Division II rankings are available here.
JEREMY TAIWO TO OPEN AT TEXAS TECH...
According to a release from Velaasa Athletics, 2016 US Olympian Jeremy Taiwo (above/photo courtesy University of Washington) will open his 2018 season at the Texas Tech Classic & Combined Events meet in Lubbock, Texas Friday and Saturday.
Taiwo, a University of Washington All-American, and two-time world championships decathlon competitor, missed the 2017 season due to injuries.
In this Q & A with Velaasa, he talks about his current training situation, and his focus on training in recent weeks.
Taiwo is one of a group of track & field athletes sponsored by the Minnesota-based startup company which markets weight lifting shoes, track & field equipment, and a small line of athletic apparel.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA and Velaasa Athletics contributed to this report.
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