NCAA Division III National Team Rankings
Men & Women Regional Rankings
NEW ORLEANS, LA --- The Moravian College men's & women's track & field teams are both ranked in the Mideast Region in the third NCAA Division III Regional Team Index of the 2012 indoor season released by the U S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Wednesday. The Greyhound women are ranked sixth while the men are ranked fifth in the top-ten regional rankings.
The Greyhound women, who are also ranked 22nd in the nation by the USTFCCCA, have a total of 33.73 points. Haverford College is currently first in the Mideast Region with 162.85 points while Johns Hopkins University is second at 139.71 and Elizabethtown College is third with 127.18 points. Misericordia University and Franklin & Marshall College are followed with 122.80 and 120.13 points, respectively. Moravian is next with 118.06 points.
The Greyhound men have a total of 138.81 points. Haverford College leads the Mideast Region with 297.30 points while Widener University is second at 210.14 points. Gwynedd-Mercy College holds down the third spot at 166.09 points and is trailed by Elizabethtown College in fourth place at 140.40 points.
Moravian will return to action on Saturday, February 10th when they are set to travel to the New York City Armory for the Winter Games against Lafayette College and Rider University. The meet is scheduled for 1 p.m.
About the Rankings
For more on the national team rankings and links to guideline and rationale information visit, click here.
Rankings are determined by a mathematical formula, which is based on current national descending order lists. This is what's used to compile a team's ranking. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national-title race.
The Regional Index is determined using a similar method as national rankings, but on a smaller scale, comparing teams versus others within the same region. The result is a ranking that showcases squads with better all-around team potential — a group makeup critical for conference or similar team-scored events. A team may achieve a better regional ranking than a counterpart that has a better national ranking. Historically, some teams are better national-championship teams than conference-championship teams, having a few elite athletes that score very well in a diverse environment where teams do not have entries in more than a few events. Some teams are better at conference championships or similar team-scored events where they enter, and are competitive, in many of the events.
How a team fares in a national championship, conference championship, or scored meet with only a couple or few teams (like a dual or triangular) can be very different, given the number of events, competition, scoring, and makeup of entries — thus the rationale behind each of the ranking systems. Similar arguments about team makeup and rankings can also be found in swimming & diving and wrestling as their sports also have a similar trichotomy when it comes to team theory.
