Track: Mountaineers Ranked No. 15 in National Poll
March 09, 2010 01:30 PM | General
March 9, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team jumped to No. 15 in the national polls announced today by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
“The girls really had a great weekend and it directly has impacted our status as a nationally ranked program,” coach Sean Cleary says. “To move all the way up to 15th in the country makes our staff and student-athletes very proud. We have very good, jumpers, sprinters, throwers and distance runners. We now need to take this momentum into the national championships and return happier than we are going. Rankings are nice, but how we execute this weekend will be how we are remembered.”
WVU is one of three BIG EAST teams represented in this week’s poll, with Villanova and Louisville ranked No. 9 and 10, respectively. Oregon, Texas A&M, LSU, Florida and Tennessee lead the polls in the top five spots.
The Mountaineers reached their highest season ranking after an excellent showing at the Columbia Last Chance Meet in New York and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships in Boston.
In the regional polls, WVU remains ranked No. 2 for the fourth-consecutive week behind Big Ten foe Penn State.
“Maintaining the ranking in the Mid-Atlantic throughout the last month is very gratifying,” Cleary admits. “Rankings in many sports are just a basis for the championships. Being that we do not have a Mid-Atlantic Championship, this final ranking demonstrates that our program is headed in the right direction."
This weekend, WVU is sending seven student-athletes to the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. – the most in school history.
Junior Chelsea Carrier leads the team as she prepares to compete in the 60-meter hurdles and the pentathlon. The Buckhannon, W.Va., native is No. 5 on the national top performance list for the season in the pentathlon after she posted a school record and NCAA automatic qualifying performance at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge on Feb. 5. Carrier is also 19th on the list in the 60-meter hurdles after posting a life-time best of 8.27 at the Columbia Last Chance Meet this past weekend.
WVU will be represented in the mile by senior Keri Bland and junior Kaylyn Christopher, while junior Jessica O’Connell will race in the 3,000-meter run and senior All-Americans Marie-Louise Asselin and Clara Grandt will compete in the 5,000-meter race.
The Mountaineers’ distance medley relay team of Bland, Christopher, O’Connell and senior April Rotilio is also set to compete. WVU has now qualified a DMR team for indoor nationals in 10 of the past 12 seasons.
