2021 NCAA DII Men's Indoor Track & Field Rating Index – Week 2

NEW ORLEANS – Welcome to the top, West Texas A&M!
Following a five spot climb, the Buffs now sit at No. 1 in the second edition of the 2021 NCAA Division II Men’s Indoor National TFRI released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday afternoon. This is the first time in program history West Texas A&M is ranked No. 1 in the National TFRI.
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No. 2 Ashland was the only team that remained unchanged from a week ago. No. 3 Grand Valley State (down 2 spots), No. 4 Lee (Tenn.) (down 1 spot) and No. 5 Central Missouri (down 1 spot) round out the top-5 teams.
West Texas A&M has collected 11 top-10 national marks in the two meets they have competed in this season. The Buffs have two national leading marks: Benjamin Azamati improved his time in the 60 to 6.59; Peniel Richard in the triple jump (15.31m/50-2 ¾). Other top-5 marks that were turned in this past weekend at Washburn include the DMR (No. 3, 10:01.70) and Desmond Aryee in the 60 (No. 5, 6.79). The aforementioned Azamati posted a 0.01 second PR to improve upon his time as the No. 4 performer on the NCAA DII all-time top-10 list for 60 meters.
The second-ranked Eagles survived the shifting of the top-5 teams and remained steady with 10 nationally ranked marks. Earning a new provisional mark for the Eagles is Tim Rumas, who ran 21.34 in the 200 to sit at No. 3. Travis Moore also turned in the No. 6 performance in the heptathlon with 5023 points.
The Lakers hold 15 marks that sit within the top-10 nationally and continue to be paced by its performances in the distance events, which include three of the top-7 in the 3000. The weight throw crew posted three top-10 marks from the Bill Clinger Classic this past weekend: Justin Scavarda is No. 6 (20.20m/66-3 ¼), Hunter Harding is No. 7 (19.99m/65-7) and Leon White is No. 9 (19.49m/63-11 ½). Makiyah Smallwood also ran the No. 8 time in the 60H (8.17).
Lee (Tenn.) has an emphasis on quality over quantity, as six of their eight top-10 marks sit within the top-3 of their respective events. The Flames turned in two more top-3 marks from the Magic City Elite Meet: Christian Noble, the reigning three-time National Athlete of the Week, set a NCAA Division II record in the 3000 at 7:51.46, breaking the previous record set in 2019; Titus Lagat clocked the third-fastest 800 of the season at 1:50.86. Noble paces the Flames with three national-leading marks: the mile (4:00.60), 3000, and 5000 (13:37.39).
Rounding out the top-5 is Central Missouri. The Mules hold onto seven top-10 nationally ranked marks, with two athletes ranked within the top-5 in pole vault and heptathlon. Vincent Hobbie is the national leader in the pole vault at 5.23m (17-1 ¾) and Trey Miller is second in the heptathlon (5164).
Here are the rest of the top-10 teams in Week 2: No. 6 Northwest Missouri (down 1 spot), No. 7 Texas A&M-Commerce, No. 8 Colorado School of Mines (previously NR), No. 9 UC-Colorado Springs and No. 10 CSU Pueblo (up 2 spots).
The 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships are scheduled for March 12-13 at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama.