NEW ORLEANS, LA --- The Moravian College men's & women's track & field teams are both ranked in the Mideast Region in the fourth NCAA Division III Regional Team Index of the 2013 outdoor season released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Wednesday. The Greyhound women's team is ranked second in the region while the men are ranked fourth in the top-ten regional rankings this week.
The Greyhound women, who were also second in the region the last two weeks, have a total of 228.47 points. Johns Hopkins University is currently first in the Mideast Region with 418.95 while Salisbury University is third at 192.85 points. Elizabethtown College is in fourth place with 189.73 points while Misericordia University is fifth with 170.84 points.
The Greyhound men, who were fourth in the region two weeks ago before moving to second last week, have a total of 219.87 points. Salisbury leads the Mideast Region with 300.28 points while Haverford College is second at 229.11 points. Messiah College holds down the third spot with 222.86 points while Gwynedd-Mercy College trails the Greyhounds in fifth with 201.00 points.
Moravian's men are just outside of the Top 25 in the nation, listed as 26th in the USTFCCCA full team-by-team rankings.
To view the full rankings, visit http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/rankings/div3/2013-otf/NCAAD3_2013_outWk4_TF_RegionalIndexTop10.pdf.
Moravian will return to action on Saturday and Sunday, April 27th and 28th when the Greyhounds travel to the 2013 Landmark Conference Championships being hosted by Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. Both Moravian teams will be looking to capture their sixth straight Landmark Outdoor titles this weekend.
About the Rankings
For more on the national team rankings and links to guideline and rationale information visit … http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-iii-rankings
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.
