Kansas Women Reclaim No. 1 Spot in Division I Rankings

NEW ORLEANS – Following their first outdoor Big 12 team crown, the Kansas women have soared back into the No. 1 spot in the Division I U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday, while the Florida men hold steady at No. 1.

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While many other Division I teams around the country were in an off week prior to conference championships, the Jayhawks recorded 12 marks that improved upon their national event rankings from a week ago — including nine that stand in the nation’s top 15 — resulting in an enormous leap past Texas A&M back into the top spot after a two week absence.

Though both the No. 1 Florida men and No. 2 Texas A&M were both off, the gap between the two shrunk as performances from around the country displaced some of the Gators’ — and to a lesser extent, the Aggies’ — top marks.

The National Team Computer Rankings are a projection of how teams could fare at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. An explanation of the rankings system can be found here.

Kansas Women Return to Perch Atop DI Rankings

The sprints and jumps were instrumental in the Jayhawks jumping up 77.47 net points in the rankings to a team score of 351.60, flying past Texas A&M, which lost 13.5 net points to fall to 307.45. The combined efforts of sprinters Paris Daniels — the National Athlete of the Week — and Diamond Dixon drove the surge to the top. Dixon’s collegiate-leading 51.73 over 400 meters boosted her from 45th in the rankings to No.1, while Daniels’ 11.34 over 100 meters moved her from 21st to 13th. Both sprinters were members of the 4×100 relay, which moved from 22nd to No. 8.

In addition to the sprinters, USTFCCCA Indoor Field Athlete of the Year Andrea Geubelle moved up from 13th to No. 3 in the long jump (21-5¼/6.53m) to provide a points increase.

Florida stayed put at No. 3 with SEC Championships on the horizon with 255.44 team points after a net drop of 8.39 points. LSU remained No. 4 after a 6.03 net loss, leaving the Lady Tigers with a 237.41 team score. Arizona checked in at No. 5 for a second straight week, dropping 15.88 net points to 222.40.

Notre Dame was the second-biggest beneficiary of their early conference championships, moving up 18 spots to No. 18 behind a 58.26 net increase to a 101.55 team score.

Florida, Texas A&M Men Remain No. 1 & 2

The men’s top five saw little change with four of the five largely inactive in the week leading up to full conference championships.

SEC foes Florida — the defending outdoor champ — and Texas A&M stayed at No. 1 and 2, respectively, but the Gators lost some ground to the Aggies. Florida dropped 22.11 net points to 319.13, while Texas A&M dropped only 9.63 to 313.35 to set up a close duel heading into the SEC meet this weekend.

Florida State dropped 5.14 to 244.33, but held steady at No. 3. Right on the Seminoles’ trail, however, are the Oregon Ducks, up a spot to No. 4 after the combination of a 4.53 net gain and a 27.15 net loss by now No. 5 Arkansas. Oregon is about seven points behind FSU with 237.13, while Arkansas fell back to 219.81.

Texas, which had been ranked within the top five for the first three weeks of the season, is back and knocking on the door after a Big 12 Title resulted in a 43.89 net gain and a 193.61 team score.

The Longhorns weren’t the only Big 12 Championships beneficiaries, as No. 17 TCU (+18 spots), No. 21 Oklahoma (+7), No. 22 Kansas (+20) and No. 24 Baylor (+12) all jumped in the rankings from their performances in Waco.