NEW ORLEANS, LA --- The Moravian College men's & women's track & field teams are both ranked in the Mideast Region in the fifth 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 for a fourth straight week while the men are ranked fourth in the top-ten regional rankings for the second consecutive week.
The Greyhound women, who won their sixth straight Landmark Conference Championship last weekend, have a total of 208.05 points. Johns Hopkins University is currently first in the Mideast Region with 380.19 while Elizabethtown College is third at 196.00 points. Washington & Jefferson College is in fourth place with 177.49 points while Salisbury University is fifth with 171.29 points.
The Greyhound men, who also won their sixth consecutive Landmark Conference title last weekend, have a total of 216.62 points. Salisbury leads the Mideast Region with 283.77 points while Carnegie Mellon University is second at 231.06 points. Messiah College holds down the third spot with 221.34 points while Haverford College trails the Greyhounds in fifth with 216.69 points.
To view the full rankings, visit http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/rankings/div3/2013-otf/NCAAD3_2013_outWk5_TF_RegionalIndexTop10.pdf.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action Sunday, May 6th when the Greyhounds travel to the Duke University Twilight Meet.
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.
