Feb. 9, 2010
Updated rankings in track and field from USTFCCCA have Texas A&M enjoying another week as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
Following a sweep of team titles in New York City at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, the Aggie men and women remain atop the national rankings. Eleven victories at the meet were highlighted by a pair of school records and NCAA automatic marks from Zuheir Sharif in the men's triple jump and Natasha Ruddock in the women's 60 hurdles.
Sharif and Ruddock were each named Big 12 Athletes of the Week for their efforts this past weekend. They become the fifth and sixth Aggie individuals to receive the honor this indoor season along with the men's 4 x 400 relay.
Sharif produced a career best of 54-3.75 to take over the collegiate lead in the triple jump from teammate Julian Reid (53-11.75). Ruddock, meanwhile, clocked a career best of 8.06 seconds to finish ahead of the 8.08 personal best from teammate Gabby Mayo. Ruddock currently leads the Big 12 in the 60 hurdles and ranks second collegiately.
Two of the A&M victories in New York were attained by Jeneba Tarmoh, who defeated a pair of former NCAA champions in claiming the 60 and 200 meter titles with NCAA provisional times of 7.29 and 23.44.
Four NCAA automatic qualifiers - Sharif and Tyron Stewart (triple jump) along with Ruddock and Mayo (60 hurdles) - were added to the list of Aggies set to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships in March along with nine NCAA provisional marks. On the season Texas A&M has 11 NCAA automatic marks, including the men's 4 x 400 relay along with 21 NCAA provisional marks, including the women's 4 x 400 relay.
The women's national rankings now have Texas A&M remaining at No. 1 with BYU in the No. 2 position followed by 3. LSU, 4. Oregon, 5. Florida, 6. Tennessee, 7. Clemson, 8. Villanova, 9. Penn State, and 10. Florida State. The Aggie women outscored BYU 107-105 for the team title in New York this past weekend with LSU in third with 56 points.
In the men's rankings the Aggies top a field that includes 2. Florida State, 3. Florida, 4. Oregon, 5. LSU, 6. Nebraska, 7. Arizona State, 8. Arkansas, 9. Oklahoma and No. 10 Texas Tech. Texas A&M totaled 99 points for the team title in the Armory ahead of LSU (77) and Oklahoma (68).
This Saturday the No. 1 ranked Aggies will be in action at 2 p.m. in the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium as they host the Texas A&M Challenge II which will feature conference scoring between the Big 12 (Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech), SEC (Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee) and Conference USA (Houston, Rice, UTEP).
BOWERMAN WATCH LIST
The 2010 Bowerman watch list was updated this week and Texas A&M junior Porscha Lucas and Jessica Beard are part of the women's Bowerman watch list.
Henry established the world leading time of 45.81 in the 400 meters a couple of weeks ago, breaking a 21-year-old A&M school record in the process. Henry also ran on a 3:04.86 4 x 400 relay which is a current world leader and set a school record.