Kansas men No. 18 in latest USTFCCCA rankings

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas men’s track & field team cracked the top-25 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rating index for the first time in the 2019 outdoor season, coming in at No. 18 in the week five rankings.

The No. 18 ranking is an eight-spot jump from the week four index, the biggest movement for the KU men this season. The jump in ranking comes after a successful weekend at the National Relay Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas in which three Jayhawks recorded top-15 marks in the NCAA West region.

Junior Bryce Hoppel clocked the top time in the West and the No. 2 time in the NCAA this season in the 800-meter run, hitting the finish line at 1:45.87. The time is the fourth-fastest in Kansas men’s history and ranks No. 8 in the world this year. The time was good for the win at the National Relay Championships, marking the 13th-straight win in individual races for Hoppel.

Freshman Cordell Tinch notched the No. 14 time in the 110-meter hurdles at the National Relay Championships. Tinch clocked in at 13.89 seconds to place second overall, moving the rookie up to No. 9 on the KU track all-time performers list in the event.

Junior Cody Johnson also clocked a top-15 time in the West, placing second in the 400-meter hurdles in Fayetteville. Johnson hit the line at 50.73 seconds, which ranks 13th in the West and 17th in the NCAA this season. The time also moved Johnson to fifth on the KU all-time performers list in the events.

The Kansas women received their highest rating of the 2019 outdoor season in the week five rankings, coming in at No. 53.

The Jayhawks are slated to compete at the Ward Haylett Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas, May 3-4 to close out the regular season. Kansas will then travel to Norman, Oklahoma for the 2019 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, May 10-12.