Jan. 8, 2009
USTFCCCA rankings in PDF Format 
Fayetteville, Arkansas - Texas A&M's track and field campaign opens its 2009 season Friday, January 9, at the University of Arkansas and the Aggies will sport the top rated pair of programs from the preseason rankings released Thursday by the United State Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The A&M women enter the year ranked No. 1 in the nation for the indoor season while the Aggie men are ranked No. 6 in the first top 25 poll released by USTFCCCA for 2009.
Both A&M squads return eight All-Americans to challenge for team championships on the conference and national level. The Aggies will host both the Big 12 Indoor and NCAA Indoor Championships in the recently completed Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the Texas A&M campus in February and March.
Last season the Aggie women placed seventh and the men tied for 10th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Then during the NCAA Outdoor Championships the A&M women finished third and the men placed fifth.
Competing in the Arkansas Invitational will provide Texas A&M with some strong early season foes. The host Razorback men rank No. 3 in the preseason rankings while the Arkansas women's team is No. 11.
Also entered in the Arkansas Invitational are Kansas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 along with Mississippi out of the SEC and Missouri Southern. Field events begin at noon while running events get started at 3:30 p.m.
Among the returning All-Americans competing for the Aggie men this weekend are Chris Dykes, Kevin McNab, Zuheir Sharif.
Porscha Lucas and Elizabeth Adeoti, Ashika Charan, Allison George, Yasmine Regis, and Sandy Wooten.
Following the Aggie women in the initial rankings for the 2009 indoor season are 2. LSU, 3. Michigan, 4. Tennessee, 5. Florida State, 6. Arizona State, 7. Virginia Tech, 8. Oregon, 9. Texas Tech, and 10. Oregon.
Leading the men's ranking is Oregon, followed by 2. Arizona State, 3. Arkansas, 4. Florida, 5. Florida State, 6. Texas A&M, 7. Texas, 8. LSU, 9. Louisville, and 10. BYU.
Based on these rankings the first home meet the Aggies host in their new facility on January 24 will feature a men's dual between No. 6 A&M and No. 7 Texas Longhorns while the No. 1 Aggie women dual the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers.
Then the following week in a Big 12 versus SEC Showdown at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium, the men's field will showcase four of the top eight teams - Florida, Texas A&M, Texas and LSU. Meanwhile, the women's field features the No. 1 Aggies and No. 2 LSU Tigers along with No. 12 Texas and No. 13 Florida. Also competing are Mississippi and Missouri, No. 24 in the men's rankings.
2009 USTFCCCA PRESEASON RANKINGS
WOMEN
Rank School Points Final '08 1. Texas A&M 149.39 7 2. LSU 127.20 2 3. Michigan 119.57 3 4. Tennessee 117.19 8 5. Florida State 109.87 6 6. Arizona State 84.35 1 7. Virginia Tech 82.42 10 8. Oregon 81.98 -- 9. Texas Tech 81.27 10 10. Minnesota 74.08 15 11. Arkansas 69.90 -- 12. Texas 68.83 4 13. Florida 67.64 8 14. Penn State 67.63 16 15. Arizona 66.71 22 16. South Carolina 64.65 -- 17. Stanford 61.33 5 18. North Carolina 46.32 21 19. UTEP 44.63 13 20. Miami (Fla.) 39.27 17 21. Texas Christian 37.31 -- 22. Kentucky 36.56 -- 23. Alabama 33.76 25 24. Nebraska 33.73 -- 25. Louisville 31.87 --
MEN
Rank School Points Final '08 1. Oregon 132.21 19 2. Arizona State 129.59 1 3. Arkansas 129.31 6 4. Florida 126.03 8 5. Florida State 104.43 2 6. Texas A&M 102.28 10 7. Texas 81.73 3 8. LSU 79.42 4 9. Louisville 72.92 -- 10. BYU 71.06 -- 11. Kentucky 68.58 -- 12. Texas Tech 67.14 -- 13. Northern Iowa 65.07 9 14. Baylor 58.93 19 15. Nebraska 56.35 17 16. South Carolina 54.75 -- 17. Michigan 53.68 -- 18. Kansas State 52.00 -- 19. Arizona 51.59 -- 20. Georgia 48.95 -- 21. Georgetown 48.59 17 22. Boise State 48.22 -- 23. Missouri 42.83 -- 24. UCLA 42.61 14 25. Stanford 41.33 7