Western Washington men move up four spots in latest USTFCCCA D2 rating index...
The USTFCCCA released its weekly national outdoor track & field rating index Tuesday, and after the GNAC championships in Ellensburg last week, Western Washington's men's squad moved up four spots to number 19.
On the other hand, the Western Washington and Central Washington women didn't have enough top 20 marks at GNACs to put them into the national top 25, where they sit at 27 and 28, respectively.
The Vikings were powered last week by their 4 x 400 relay team of Jackson Moffitt, Sam Foust, Evin Ford, and Lucas Brenek (Moffitt to Foust courtesy Nathan Herde/GNAC), who ran the number 10 time in the country of 3:08.81; javelin thrower Jakob Braunstein, who threw 224-10 (68.54m) at the Emilie Mondor Invitational for the number 12 mark; and Brenek, who ran 46.55 at the conference championship meet, good for number 17.
The nation's top five teams this week are in order: Grand Valley State, Pittsburg State, Minnesota State, Missouri Southern, and West Texas A&M.
Western is the only team on either the men's or women's rating index from the GNAC in the national top 25.
The closest team battle in conference history between Western and Central Washington was not enough to boost the Vikings and the Wildcats into the national top 25.
Top 20 marks from Western last week came from Bec Bennett in the 400, where she ran 52.56 for the number 5 mark; the 4 x 400 relay of Casie Kleine, Jayda Darroch, Kennedy Cook, and Bennett, who ran 3:37.for the number 5 mark; Kathryn Chapin at number 12 in the hammer at 186-2 (56.75m); and Jessica Polkinghorn at 15 in the javelin at 152-11 (46.61m).
For Central, who have competed all outdoor season without the services of defending NCAA high jump and triple jump champion Emy Ntekpere, they were led by Elise Hopper's 52.48 in the 400, which is the number 4 time in the country; their 4 x 400 relay with Ellie DeGroot, Carley Huber, Donna Marie Harris and Hopper, who ran 3:36.90, good for number 4; their 4 x 100 relay team of Ashlyn Nielsen, Zoe Gonzales, Hopper and Layla Fields, who ran the number 14 time nationally at 45.31; and DeGroot in the 400 hurdles, who ran 59.31, good for the number 19 time.
The nation's top five women's teams are in order: West Texas A&M, Pittsburg State, Colorado School of Mines, Missouri Southern, and Grand Valley State.
The NCAA will announce the qualifiers for next weekend's Division II championships in Emporia, Kansas Tuesday afternoon.
The USTFCCCA will release one more rating index for Division II next week, which will factor only those individuals and relay teams entered in the national championships.
DIVISION I...
The Washington women's team, which did not compete last week, moved up one spot in the Division I national rating index to number 21.
Sofia Cosculluela in the heptathlon, and Hana Moll in the pole vault, remain the number one competitors in their events heading into championship weekend.
It's projected that Cosculluela will not contest the heptathlon at the Big Ten championship meet this weekend, but will focus on individual events where she could possibly score points for the Dawgs.
As the NCAA does not contest the heptathlon at the first round (regionals)will take the top 24 marks nationally in the combined events after Sunday's conference championships to Eugene, Cosculluela has essentially clinched her spot to nationals.
The nation's top five teams after last weekend's meets are in order: Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, BYU and LSU.
Other Big Ten teams in the national top 25 include number 6 Nebraska, number 9 Illinois, number 15 USC, and number 23 Minnesota.
On the men's side, UW is still outside the top 25 at number 36.
The nation's top five men's teams are in order: Arkansas, Oregon, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M.
Other Big Ten teams in the top 25 include number 8 USC, number 9 Nebraska, number 15 Minnesota, number 17 Iowa, and number 23 Penn State.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA and the GNAC contributed to this report.
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