ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bear men's track & field team is deemed to be the 32nd best team in the nation, according to the first indoor national rankings of the season, released Feb. 2 by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).  Concordia is the third-highest ranked team in the NSIC.

The national rankings for track & field are compiled using a mathematical formulae that indexes a team's potential of placing well at the NCAA Indoor Championships.  The Golden Bears have a number of athletes accumulating points for the Concordia cause, including Domonique Gilmer and Diahn Zeon in two individual events each.  Gilmer has brought in the most points for the Golden Bears with his outstanding performances in the 200m dash and 400m dash.  He ranks 7th nationally in the 400m dash with his NCAA provisional mark of 48.46s.  Zeon has brought in points in the long jump and 60m dash, including a swath of points with his NCAA provisional long jump mark of 23 feet, 9.5 inches, 9th best in Division II this season.

Minnesota State University is the highest ranked NSIC program, coming in at 15th in the nation.  MSU Moorhead is just ahead of Concordia at 29th on the list.  The nation is topped by the squad of St. Augustine's (Mo.).  The Golden Bears were picked to finish 7th at the NSIC Championships this season, while the Mavericks were picked to top the league.

New national rankings are released every week by the USTFCCCA.  For more information on this week's rankings, visit http://www.ustfccca.org/featured/st-aug%E2%80%99s-men-lincoln-mo-women-make-debut-as-d2%E2%80%99s-first-number-ones.