Jayhawk Women Slide Up to No. 6 in National Rankings

Feb. 28, 2012

National Track and Field Rankings

USTFCCCA Weekly Rankings No. School Conf. Last 1. Oregon Pac 12 1 2. Arkansas SEC 4 3. Clemson ACC 3 4. LSU SEC 2 5. Texas A&M Big 12 5 6. Kansas Big 12 7 7. Florida SEC 6 8. Colifornia Pac 12 19 9. BYU Mtn. West 14 10. Washington Pac 12 23 11. Stanford Pac 12 18 12. Southern Illinois Mo. Valley 9 13. Arizona Pac 12 16 14. UCF Conf. USA 15 15. Iowa State Big 12 13 16. Tennessee SEC 8 17. Ohio State Big Ten 10 18. Texas Big 12 11 19. TCU Mtn. West 41 20. Florida State ACC 21 21. Georgetown Big East 20 22. Georgia SEC 30 23. Texas Tech Big 12 12 24. Wisconson Big Ten 17 25. Auburn SEC 50

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Coming off their third-place performance at the Big 12 Conference Indoor Championships last weekend, the University of Kansas women’s track and field team moved up one spot to rank sixth in the USTFCCCA national rankings released Tuesday. It is the second time this season the women have hit the six spot, and the third-straight week they have been ranked the top 10.

Propelling the Jayhawks up the women’s rankings are a host of athletes who are among the top-10 nationally in their respective events. Leading the way is junior Andrea Geubelle, who ranks No. 1 nationally in the triple jump, having already punched her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships with a school-record mark of 13.59m (44-07 ft.) in her event win last weekend at the conference championships. Geubelle also boasts the 19th-best mark in the long jump at 6.23m (20-04.25 ft.).

Sprinter Diamond Dixon is having an All-American caliber season, as she holds the second-fastest 400-meter time in the NCAA this year. She too took home a Big 12 crown last weekend, running a school record time of 52.55.

A sophomore, Dixon also helped pace the women’s 4×400-meter relay team of Denesha Morris, Paris Daniels and Taylor Washington to the fastest indoor time in school history last weekend. The quartet ran a 3:31.36, which is No. 8 on the all-time NCAA performance list, and the fastest in the country this season.

Junior Francine Simpson claimed the Big 12 Championship in the long jump at the conference meet and currently holds the NCAA’s ninth-ranked mark of 6.32 meters (20-9 ft.), which she hit earlier this year.

Alena Krechyk rounds out the KU women’s top-10 nationally-ranked individuals. The senior has broken the school record in the weight throw three times this year, most recently hitting a top mark of 21.01 meters (68-11.25 ft.) last week in College Station. The record heave is the ninth-best throw in the nation in 2012 and assures her a spot at the NCAA Championships March 9-10.

The KU women are accompanied by five other Big 12 schools that are ranked in the top 25 this week, including Texas A&M (5^th), Iowa State (15^th), Texas (18^th) and Texas Tech (23^rd).

The KU women will split up among three separate meets this weekend. Some will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Arkansas Last Chance; some will head to Ames, Iowa for the ISU NCAA Qualifier and others will compete at the Alex Wilson Last Chance in South Bend, Ind. For updates and results of all the Jayhawks in competition this weekend log on to kuathletics.com or follow on twitter at KU_Track.

About the USTFCCCA Rankings
The 2012 USTFCCCA Rankings for NCAA Division I squads were devised and are compiled by the communications director of the USTFCCCA, Tom Lewis. Each team is assigned “power points” based on each individual performance on the official NCAA-qualifying list. For the indoor season, spots one through 35 in each event on the national-descending order list receive points based on its position in the national rankings. Additional power points are assigned to each performance based on comparisons with the rest of the field in that event.