Track: WVU No. 20 in National Rankings
February 09, 2010 04:02 PM | General
By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
February 9, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After dropping out of the top 25 for a week, the West Virginia University track and field team jumped six spots to No. 20 in this week’s poll, announced today by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
The Mountaineers are one of three BIG EAST teams in the top 25, with Villanova at No. 8 and Louisville at No. 14. Texas A&M remains at No. 1, while BYU, LSU, Oregon and Florida round out the top 5.
In the individual rankings, junior Chelsea Carrier moved to No. 5 in the pentathlon after breaking a school and meet record, while also posting an NCAA qualifying standard at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup at Penn State.
Carrier won the event with 4,136 points to break the school record previously set by All-American Pat Itanyi in 1997 (4,111). The Buckhannon, W.Va., native finished first in the 60-meter hurdles (8.45), the high jump (1.71 meters), the long jump (5.92 meters), the shot put (10.99 meters) and the 800-meter run (2:20.09).
Senior Keri Bland continues to hold the No. 1 spot in the mile, while also being ranked No. 21 in the 800 meter.
WVU is set for the annual Gold-Blue Intrasquad meet on Saturday, Feb. 13, before heading to New York City for the BIG EAST Championships on Feb. 20-21.
