Texas A&M’s Men Moves to National No. 1, Aggies Hold Both Top Spots

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Texas A&M’s Men Moves to National No. 1, Aggies Hold Both Top Spots

Courtesy: Tom Lewis, USTFCCCA

February 2, 2010

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Tuesday morning the second weekly update of the NCAA Division I National Team Rankings for indoor track & field. Texas A&M holds the top spots in both men’s and women’s national team rankings for the first time this season. The Aggie men (161.54) garnered three World-leading marks at their home conference challenge this past weekend and quickly moved up the leader board as a result. The Aggie women (179.61) continue to hold their No. 1 spot, having not flinched since the beginning of the season.

MEN: Texas A&M Takes Over No. 1 After World-Class Performances
Texas A&M added 43.44 ranking points to their total from last weekend to jump from fourth to first in the national team rankings. The Aggies, with three World-leading marks, helped its Big 12 brethren to a collective victory over the SEC and Pac-10 at the Texas A&M Challenge this past weekend in College Station, Texas.

Sophomore Curtis Mitchell ran 20.69 over 200 meters for the Aggies last weekend in claiming a World-leading mark. Junior Tabrarie Henry bettered his teammate Demetrius Pinder’s (46.01) previous World-leading 400-meter mark to 45.81 this past weekend as well. In addition on Saturday, Bryan Miller, Tran Howell, along with Henry and Pinder claimed the World’s best 4×400-meter relay time to this point in 2010 with a 3:04.86 clocking in a thrilling battle with fellow Big 12-foe Baylor.

Florida State (141.93) dropped just a spot to No. 2, actually gaining nearly seven ranking points over the weekend as senior Andrew Bachelor leapt to 7-2½ (2.20m) for the third-best high jump performance of the 2010 collegiate season.

No. 3 Oregon (117.31) also dropped a spot despite the collegiate-record setting effort by senior Ashton Eaton in the heptathlon. Eaton scored 6,256 points in the seven-event classic at the Texas A&M meet to top the previous collegiate best (6,208A) set by World Champion Trey Hardee, formally of Texas.

Fourth-ranked LSU went up two spots (112.15) from its previous rank as junior Walter Henning claimed the collegiate-leading weight throw mark of 75-8 (23.06m) at Northern Arizona’s Mountain T’s meet. Florida (109.67) rounds out the men’s top five.

The SEC leads the way with seven members ranked in the national top 25, followed by the Big 12 and Pac-10 which each have six.

WOMEN: On Groundhog’s Day, It’s a Repeat Performance By Nation’s Top Four
In the women’s national team rankings, the top four teams remain unchanged from a week ago. No. 1 Texas A&M (179.61) has been in the top spot since the beginning of the season.

The women of Oregon (124.00) stay as the second-ranked team in the country, having posted several solid marks last weekend at Texas A&M. Freshman Jordan Hasay in her first collegiate race split 3:21.49 for the opening 1200-meter leg of Oregon’s distance medley relay that went on to become the 10th team in collegiate history to run a sub-11 minute time (10:59.64). Hasay went on to run a Division I-leading Mile time of 4:38.48 later in the weekend.

No. 3 BYU (117.65) and No. 4 LSU (109.78) held steady from their previous ranking. LSU sophomore Rachel Laurent vaulted to the second-best collegiate mark of the season with a 14-3¼ (4.35m) clearance last weekend in New Mexico.

The Lady Vols of Tennessee climbed three spots to No. 5 after action last weekend. A weekend after Phoebe Wright and Chanelle Price claimed the top two collegiate spots in the 800 meters, senior Jackie Areson ran the nation’s second-best mark over 3000 meters with a 9:07.27 clocking at the Penn State National.

The SEC leads the conferences with six members in the top 25. The Big 12 and ACC have four among the nation’s top teams.

About the Rankings
The first three weeks of regular national-ranking updates include marks achieved in 2009 (preseason data) and in 2010 (current data). Preseason marks are phased out as athletes and relays achieve marks that better their preseason standing while current marks are phased in with the arrival of freshmen and the improvement of other squad members.

For more on the rankings and links to guideline and rationale information visit …
http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-i-rankings



USTFCCCA
NCAA Division I
Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Rankings
2010 Week #2 – February 2

Rank School Points Last Week
1 Texas A&M 161.54 4
2 Florida State 141.93 1
3 Oregon 117.31 2
4 LSU 112.15 6
5 Florida 109.67 3
6 Nebraska 106.19 5
7 Arkansas 84.14 7
8 Arizona State 82.96 8
9 Oklahoma 81.24 9
10 Stanford 71.69 17
11 Indiana 67.49 16
12 Baylor 67.11 10
13 Minnesota 64.00 12
14 Penn State 63.98 –
15 Texas Tech 61.57 11
16 California 60.68 22
17 Virginia Tech 57.36 13
18 South Carolina 50.90 15
19 New Mexico 44.15 –
20 Auburn 43.95 18
21 Kentucky 43.33 19
22 Georgia 43.21 14
23 Arizona 42.60 20
24 Oklahoma State 37.09 24
25 Washington State 36.60 21



Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Rankings
2010 Week #2 – February 2

Rank School Points Last Week
1 Texas A&M 179.61 1
2 Oregon 124.00 2
3 BYU 117.65 3
4 LSU 109.78 4
5 Tennessee 100.24 8
6 Florida State 98.88 5
7 Clemson 95.70 7
8 Penn State 92.71 6
9 Florida 92.69 9
10 South Carolina 73.33 11
11 Arkansas 72.99 10
12 Villanova 64.79 –
13 Nebraska 63.18 12
14 Louisville 60.71 14
15 Oklahoma 58.46 15
16 Arizona 57.85 17
17 Auburn 56.69 19
18 Washington 52.45 13
19 Baylor 51.64 16
20 Virginia Tech 51.11 18
21 Indiana State 48.10 22
22 Southern Illinois 46.72 20
23 Connecticut 44.76 21
24 UTEP 43.65 25
25 North Carolina 41.93 –