NEW ORLEANS – The United Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released the first rankings of the 2025 indoor track and field season on Tuesday and the Parkside track and field team was recognized in the regional rankings on the women's side, along with three event squad groups being ranked in the top-20 nationally.
 
"The initial rankings show our teams hard work leading into the start of the season," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Nick Maas. "On the squad ranking side, we already believed we had some of the best jumpers and middle distance runners in the nation and it's nice to see that through the rankings. Our women's team is really just scratching the surface on the team ranking side of things, we still have a handful of people who haven't competed in their main events. Once we get rolling on that side, we could see a rise up." Exciting times for the men's team as well, we just have a few pieces to work through to get them up higher into the regional and national rankings."
 
The Parkside women's track and field team is ranked ninth in the Midwest region in the first poll with 94.64 points. The women's team 800 meters event squad is ranked 12^th nationally and the long jump event squad is ranked 18^th nationally.
 
The Parkside men's high jump event squad is ranked 13^th nationally after a big weekend in Milwaukee.
 
Event Squad rankings places a rank order to a program's "squad" of athletes in a particular event, using the cumulative season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes on the national descending-order list. As with the national descending-order list for qualifying and seeding purposes, marks are subject to be converted due to track size and/or altitude. A team must have four or more athletes with a valid season-best mark to achieve a ranking in a particular event.
 
The Rangers will return to action on Saturday when they host the Lake Michigan Open in the Frank Petretti Fieldhouse. Saturday will also be alumni day for the program. Links to live results can be found at ParksideRangers.com/coverage.