Men's Track and Field Ranked in Top 25
Jan. 6, 2010
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
After a successful early-season home meet and the return of two-time indoor All-American pole vaulter Jordan Scott, the Kansas men’s track and field team earned a spot on the annual U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association preseason indoor national rankings list. The men are ranked 25th in the nation entering the 2010 campaign, it was announced Tuesday by the USTFCCCA.
THE USTFCCA national team rankings are based upon results from the previous indoor season and any marks achieved during the December portion of the 2009-10 season. Also taken into account are transfer students and athletes that redshirted in 2009, but had achieved NCAA qualifying marks during the previous year. Mathematical formulae are used to compile a team’s ranking based on an athlete’s or relay’s standing in relation to others in the same event across the country.
Among those who contributed to Kansas’ preseason national ranking were senior Jordan Scott, sophomore Keith Hayes and freshman Mason Finley.
Scott, a native of Watkinsville, Ga., finished third in the pole vault at the 2009 Indoor National Championships. He leaped 5.45m (17-10.50 ft) to claim All-American accolades for second time in his career. The honor came just three weeks after Scott was crowned the Big 12 Champion in the pole vault for the third-consecutive year. He tied his personal record at the conference meet, clearing a height of 5.55m (18-02.25 ft).
Hayes, the top-returning hurdler for KU, has already hit an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 60-meter hurdles this season. He ran a 7.91 to win the event at the Bob Timmons Challenge on Dec. 5, which was the first meet of the season for the Jayhawks. Hayes finished fifth in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2009 Big 12 Indoor Championships and was the only Jayhawks sprinter to achieve an NCAA provisional qualifying time last season, when he ran a 7.86 to finish third at the ISU NCAA qualifier.
Finley, a highly touted thrower from Salida, Colo., came to Kansas as the national high school record holder in the discus and U.S.A. Juniors record holder in the discus and shot put. Finley has already had a major impact on the Jayhawks, as he hit an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the shot put in his first collegiate meet. Finley threw 19.10m (62-08.00 ft) to win the event by more than eight feet.
The first official USTFCCCA ranking of the 2010 indoor season will be released on Jan. 26, after most Divison I teams have competed in at least two events.
The Jayhawks will next be in action on Friday, Dec. 8, when they host the Bill Easton Classic in Anschutz Pavilion. Scott, Hayes and Finley, as well as many other standout athletes, are all slated to compete.
