Kansas Men's and Women's Track Teams Make Big Leaps In USTFCCCA Rankings
May 17, 2011
NEW ORLEANS, La. –
Both of Kansas’ track and field teams jumped several spots in this week’s U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings that were released Tuesday morning. The KU women made a significant move up the poll from No. 25 last week to No. 18 this week, while the Jayhawk men elevated two spots from No. 17 last week to No. 15 this week after a great weekend at the Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla.
The KU women’s team spent the previous two weeks at No. 25 in the USTFCCCA poll before making the jump following some outstanding performances by several Jayhawks at last weekend’s conference championships. Freshman Diamond Dixon led the KU women, bringing home the conference title in the 400 meters. Dixon’s time of 51.55 smashed her previous school record and is the best time in the NCAA this season. The Jayhawks also got top performances from sophomore Andrea Geubelle, who notched her season’s top marks in the long and triple jumps last weekend, junior Jaci Perryman, who set a new personal best in the pole vault and junior Rebeka Stowe, who was the runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the conference meet. Kansas moved up in the women’s poll to No. 18 with 112.39 points in the computer generated poll.
The Kansas men had been holding steady at the No. 18 and No. 17 spots in the previous two weeks, but leaped to the No. 15 spot in the final regular-season poll that came out this week. The Jayhawks made the leap with 119.89 points after several strong performances this past weekend in Norman. KU’s men’s team has 14 athletes ranked in 10 different events in the Top 48 of the West Region entering the week ahead.
The KU men and women will return to action in Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA West Regional meet May 26-28. The top-48 ranked athletes from the NCAA’s West Region will look to up their rankings in preparation for the NCAA Championship meet on June 8-11. The Jayhawks will send 30 athletes in total to Eugene and are sure to have some top performances in store. For live updates and results check kuathletics.com.
