FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Complete Rankings

Feb. 3, 2010-- For the third straight week, North Central College is the second ranked squad in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Top 25 Rankings, released Wednesday.

Defending Division III Indoor National Champion University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh remains the No.1 team in the country, garnering 172.26 points with the Cardinals closing the gap, amassing 155.34 points in this weeks rankings. State University of New York-Geneseo is third (130.34), University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is fourth (111.89) while the University of Southern Maine rounds out the top five with 88.10 points. Carthage College is the only other College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin institution in the Top 25, ranking ninth with 53.22 points.

This is the first year that the USTFCCCA has utilized its new formula for compiling rankings, which utilizes the NCAA Division III Indoor National performance list and assigns points to up to 30 athletes in each event. The purpose of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of excelling at the national championships.

The Cardinals won their third meet of the season on Friday, winning 12 of 17 events and scoring 152 points in the team tally. Jake Winder won the pole vault after clearing an automatic qualifying height of 16 feet 8 3/4 inches while John Wood and Thomas Stacey each hit provisional qualifying standards in the event. Winder, Wood and Stacey currently hold the top three vaults in Division III.

North Central returns to action on Friday, traveling up to Whitewater, Wis. for the Warhawk Classic.