March 26, 2008
Texas A&M?â„¢s outdoor track and field season continues with a trek to the Sunshine State this weekend as the Aggies compete in the Florida State Relays on Friday and Saturday at Mike Long Track in Tallahassee.
After its opening outdoor weekend in Austin this past Saturday, A&M currently has six NCAA leaders among the 30 regional qualifiers they attained at the Texas Invitational. Preseason rankings for the outdoor season have the Aggie women No. 4 in the nation with the A&M men No. 16.
At the Florida State Relays the Aggies will face a Seminole men?â„¢s squad that has won the NCAA Outdoor Championship the past two seasons. Florida State is currently No. 1 in the 2008 preseason rankings. At the recent NCAA Indoor Championships the Seminoles were runner-up to Arizona State while the FSU women placed sixth.
Other teams competing this weekend in Tallahassee include Florida, Florida A&M, Jacksonville, Michigan (w) and South Florida. Florida men are No. 4 in the outdoor preseason rankings while the Florida women rank No. 13 and Michigan women are No. 10.
Aggies currently leading their respective events on the NCAA outdoor list are Khrystal Carter in the 100 (11.54), Ashika Charan in the women?â„¢s triple jump (42-6.25) and Zuheir Sharif in the men?â„¢s triple jump (51-8.25).
In addition Texas A&M tops the NCAA list in both the men?â„¢s and women?â„¢s 4 x 100 relay as well as the women?â„¢s 4 x 400.
The Aggie women posted a world-leading mark of 43.40 seconds in winning the Texas Invitational. A second group of A&M women were runner-up in 44.44, which is currently second on the NCAA list. They both lead LSU (44.68), Baylor (44.79) and TCU (45.05).
In the men?â„¢s 4 x 100, the A&M men won with a clocking of 39.66 to top the current list that includes TCU (39.99), Charleston Southern (40.14), Clemson (40.37) and Mississippi State (40.37).
The women?â„¢s 4 x 400 list had three squads open the outdoor season with 3:38?â„¢s. The Aggie women top the trio with its 3:38.16 while LSU (3:38.72) and USC (3:38.83) follow.
More relay events will be on the menu at the Florida State Relays. Texas A&M will enter squads to contest the men?â„¢s and women?â„¢s 4 x 200 and sprint medley relays.
Aggie school records in those two relays, which are run only a couple of times a season, have reached an average age of 20 years on the men?â„¢s side. The 4 x 200 relay mark of 1:21.38 was set in 1990 while the sprint medley mark of 3:15.10 was recorded in 1988.
2008 Preseason USTFCCCA Outdoor Rankings
Men: 1. Florida State; 2. LSU; 3. Tennessee; 4. Florida; 5. USC; 6. Georgia; 7. UCLA; 8. Arizona State; 9. Auburn; 10. Washington; 11. Oklahoma; 12. Texas; 13. Arkansas; 14. Baylor; 15. Northern Iowa; 16. Texas A&M; 17. Nebraska; 18. Kansas; 19. Louisville; 20. Liberty; 21. Colorado; 22. Stanford; 23. Clemson; 24. UTEP; 25. Texas Tech 25.
Women: 1. LSU; 2. Arizona State; 3. Virginia Tech; 4. Texas A&M; 5. USC; 6. UCLA; 7. BYU; 8. Penn State; 9. Stanford; 10. Michigan; 11. Arkansas; 12. Texas; 13. Florida; 14. Texas Tech; 15. Kansas; 16. South Carolina; 17. Auburn; 18. Oregon; 19. TCU; 20. California; 21. Tennessee; 22. Oklahoma; 23. Minnesota; 24. Miami; 25. Purdue.