NEW ORLEANS – Just the two last chance weekends stand between now and the NCAA Division III outdoor track & field championships.  With the conference meets in the books, the UW-La Crosse men and women tightened their grips on their No. 1 rankings.  In the rankings released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the Eagle men expanded their lead on the No. 1 spot by fourteen rankings points, while their female counterparts grew their advantage by twenty-seven points. Both did so after winning conference titles this weekend.

UW-Eau Claire was No. 2 in both sets of rankings. The Blugolds finished third—behind national No. 3 UW-Whitewater—in the WIAC men’s meet, while they finished second behind La Crosse in the WIAC women’s meet.  The top three Wisconsin teams were the top three teams in for both men and women, as UW-Oshkoshmoved up six slots to No. 3 in the women’s rankings.

No. 4 Salisbury—up thirteen spots to its highest ranking since 2010—and No. 5 Augustana (Ill.) filled out the rest of the men’s top five.  The MIT women climbed one spot to No. 4, ahead of No. 5Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who slipped from No. 2.

Behind the Salisbury Seagulls, two more men’s teams made their season debuts in the top ten.  No. 8 UW-Stout and No. 10Brockport climbed seven and eight ranks, respectively.  Behind them, four squads joined the top twenty-five.  They were No. 20UW-Stevens Point, No. 23 UW-River Falls, No. 24 Occidental, and No. 25 SUNY Cortland. This was the season debut in the rankings for all four of those teams.

Salisbury has been ranked solidly in the top twenty all year thanks largely to great hurdling from Luke Campbell. How did they fly into the top five? At this weekend’s Capital Athletic Conference meet, Tyler Austin ran a very quick 10.53 100 in the prelims and 400 hurdler Devon Hopkins joined Campbell in the national top five in that event.

NCAA DIVISION III COMPUTER RANKINGS TOP 5 – MEN 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-La Crosse UW-Eau Claire UW-Whitewater Salisbury Augustana (Ill.) View Complete Men’s Computer Rankings   NCAA DIVISION III COMPUTER RANKINGS TOP 5 – WOMEN 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) UW-La Crosse UW-Eau Claire UW-Oshkosh MIT Claremont-Mudd-Scripps View Complete Women’s Computer Rankings

Occidental, the biggest movers up the week with its thirty-two-place leap, similarly gained from one-lap races. Flat 400 runner Gabriel Barrett-Jackson, hurdler Jesse Wong, and its 4×100 meter relay posted twenty-five rankings points on their home track this weekend at the SCIAC Championships.

Just like in the men’s rankings, one WIAC team joined the women’s top ten, and two out of the four teams that joined the top twenty-five were from that conference.  The Whitewater women moved up from No. 18 to No. 8, and No. 12 Stout, No. 13 Rowan, No. 17 UW-Platteville, and No. 25 Williams all hit a season high in the rankings.  It was the first time in the top twenty-five this year for Stout, Platteville, and Williams.

Out of Whitewater’s 90.77 points, 77.00 come from Lexie Sondgeroth and Shelby Mahr. The Warhawk women were able to move up in the rankings this week thanks to 200/400 double season bests from Sondgeroth, and a shot put season best from Mahr. Similarly, Platteville gets 43.00 of its 58.30 points fromAmber Williams, and the Pioneers moved up after Williams set triple season bests this weekend in the high, long, and triple jumps.

Speaking of Williams, the Williams College Ephs got a 4:30.57 1500 from first-year Anna Harleen, good enough for fourteen points. That moved her team into the top twenty-five first the first time since finishing eighth at last year’s NCAA outdoor meet.

The Ohio Wesleyan women were the only team to be newly ranked at No. 1 in its region; the Bishops took over the top spot in the Great Lakes.

The DIII rankings will be released every Tuesday between now and the May 21-23 NCAA Championships at St. Lawrence.