2019 NCAA DI Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Rating Index – Week 8
NEW ORLEANS – It’s that time that fans, coaches and athletes alike have been looking forward to all season: The start of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field postseason!
With that, comes the penultimate edition of the NCAA Division I Women’s Track & Field National Rating Index which was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Monday.
READ MORE: The Road to Austin Begins Here!
There might a shade shy of three weeks to go until the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Austin, Texas (June 5-8), but programs have shifted their focus towards the East & West Preliminary Rounds that are set for this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, and Sacramento, California, respectively.
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Only marks from athletes who qualified for their respective Preliminary Meet were used in the computer formula for this National Rating Index.
NCAA Division I — Women's Outdoor Track & Field
This Week's National Top Five
Arkansas
Southern California
Texas A&M
Kentucky
New Mexico
All TFRI Reports
The top six teams in the nation locked in place heading into the Preliminary Rounds.
Arkansas was tabbed as the top program in the country for the fifth consecutive week, which is the longest time spent consecutively in the No. 1 spot during the outdoor season in team history.
The Razorbacks have some talented depth throughout their roster and will head into the Preliminary Round with the top-ranked athlete in the 100H in Janeek Brown (also sixth overall in the 200) to go with Payton Chadwich (second in the same event), Kethlin Campbell (second in the 400), Tori Hoggard and Lexi Jacobus (third and eighth respectively in the pole vault) and the 4×100 and 4×400 groups that are ranked third and fourth in the country.
Southern California remained in the No. 2 spot for the second week in a row.
The Women of Troy enter the West Preliminary Round with leaders in Twanisha Terry (second in the 100 and 17th in the 200), Chanel Brissett (second overall in the 100H), Anna Cockrell (second in the 400H) and Kaelin Roberts. The 4×100 relay is also the top-ranked squad in the nation while the 4×400 is currently slotted at fifth overall.
Texas A&M continued its time in the No. 3 position for the second week in a row, as well.
Top athletes for the Aggies include Ciynamon Stevenson (second in the triple jump), Syaira Richardson (third in the 400), Tyra Gittens (fourth in the high jump) and Jazmine Fray (fifth in the 800) to go with its sixth-ranked 4×100 and 4×400 units.
Kentucky remained steady in the No. 4 spot for the fourth week in a row.
Standouts so far this season for the Wildcats include Kianna Gray (fourth in the 100), Abby Steiner (fourth in the 200), Chloe Abbott (eighth in the 400), Marie-Josee Ebwea-Excel (eighth in the triple jump) and the program’s 4×100 and 4×400 groups, which come in ranked third and eighth.
New Mexico remained strong at No. 5 for the second week in a row.
The ultra-talented distance group leads this team as Adva Cohen is ranked third in the steeple and fourth in the 5000, Weini Kelati is third in the 10,000 and Ednah Kurgat in fifth in the same event. Previous season-best marks in the Rating Index (which is used for distance events only due to the lack of numbers of competitions during the season) has Kurgat first in the 5000, Kelati second in the same event and Charlotte Prouse second overall in the steeple.
Of the top-five programs, Texas A&M had the most qualified athletes into their Prelim Round with 35 overall. They were followed by Arkansas (34), USC (25), Kentucky (25) and New Mexico (11).
LSU, Florida State, Florida, Texas and Oregon completed the rest of the top-10, in that order.
There wasn’t much movement at the top of the charts as just Florida State (up three) and Oregon (down three) were the only top-10 teams to experience any chance. The rest of the rankings got a pretty good shake up though as only three teams didn’t move at all in the No. 11-25 positions. The largest jump out of top-25 programs was a three-way tie between Florida State, No. 16 UCLA and No. 21 Ohio State as each rose three spots.
The biggest gain in the rankings belonged to No. 156 Yale after a 38-spot increase. Other large jumps were taken by No. 166 Toledo (up 36), No. 139 Northwestern (up 30), No. 110 San Francisco (up 28), No. 164 Dayton, No. 106 Temple (up 25), No. 61 Iowa State (up 23) and No. 112 Southern Utah.
Five previously unranked teams made the index this week led by No. 177 Saint Francis (Pa.).
The next edition of the NCAA DI Women’s National Rating Index will be released on May 28 following the conclusion of the NCAA East and West Preliminary Rounds. That release will state what athletes made it into the national meet along with serving as a team preview for NCAAs.