Central women and Western men in the USTFCCCA national D2 top 15 in first ranking index of '26...

With most of the teams in the state of Washington and around the country now with an outdoor meet under their belts, the USTFCCCA released its first weekly Outdoor Track and Field Rating Index.

Washington State is the only one of the state's nine schools that hasn't competed outdoors so far this season, while Washington only had a partial squad at its season opener last Saturday at the Payton-Shotwell Invitational in Tacoma.

No Washington schools are ranked in the top 25 in the initial Division I rating index.

The nation's top five men's teams are in order: LSU, Texas Tech, Minnesota, Michigan and Ole Miss. 

At this early juncture, the top women's Division I teams are in order: LSU, Texas Tech, Duke, Georgia, and Arkansas.

In Division II, the Central Washington women crack the national top 25, entering the rankings at number 15.

The Wildcats got most of their early marks at the Oregon State PNW Invitational two weeks ago, led by Elise Hopper (Paul Merca photo), who has the number 5 mark in the country in the 400 hurdles at 59.90.

The women's top five teams so far are in order: Grand Valley State, Harding, West Texas A&M, Missouri Southern, and Angelo State.

Central is the only GNAC team in the national top 25 so far.

Led by discus thrower Liam Wall's 181-3 (55.27m) at the Pacific Lutheran Opener on March 14th, and 400 hurdler Maurice Woodring's 52.09 at the Brad Moore Invitational, both of which rank in the top five nationally, Western Washington is ranked number 10 in the initial national D2 index.

The nation's top five D2 teams are in order: Grand Valley State, Angelo State, Fresno Pacific, Harding, and Colorado School of Mines.

The Vikings are the only GNAC team in the national top 25.

For all but Saint Martin's, this weekend will see every D1 and D2 school in action.

The USTFCCCA release is available here.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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