May 4, 2010
Texas A&M men and women currently stand atop both USTFCCCA national team rankings this week as the No. 1 squads. It's the second consecutive week for the Aggie men to be No. 1 while the women return to their top-ranked status after one week as No. 2.
The next meet for Texas A&M will be the Big 12 Championships from May 14-16 at the University of Missouri. The Aggie women have won the past three conference outdoor titles and will seek to claim an eighth straight Big 12 team title when including their run of four consecutive indoor championships. The A&M men have been runner-up at the past two Big 12 Outdoor Championships.
Three national qualifiers in the 200 assisted the A&M women back to its No. 1 ranking. Porscha Lucas led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 meters at the Texas Invite in Austin this past weekend as she posted a collegiate leading 22.85 winning time. Jeneba Tarmoh and Gabby Mayo followed with marks of 23.06 and 23.22 that rank sixth and 13th in the nation. It was the first time for the sprinting trio to run a 200 this outdoor season.
Lucas, who also won the 100 at the Texas Invite in 11.37, earned a share of the weekly Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors with Iowa State distance runner Lisa Koll.
Another boost for the Aggie women came in the long jump where Sasha-Kay Matthias moved into the top 15 nationally with a 1-2 finish in Austin. Thomas produced a wind-aided winning mark of 20-10 ½ (6.35) while Matthias was runner-up with a career best 20-9 ¾ (6.34).
The A&M men maintained its hold on No. 1 with a 45.20 winning performance from Tabarie Henry in the 400 and a surprising 26-0 ¼ wind-aided long jump victory from Melvin Echard. Henry currently ranks No. 3 in the 400 while Echard is No. 4 nationally in the long jump.
The Aggies currently have four sprinters ranked among the top 16 in the 400 as season best marks from Bryan Miller (45.96) and Tran Howell (46.06) during the Texas Invite moved them up the national list to join Henry and Demetrius Pinder (45.89).
Ranked behind the A&M men this week are 2. Oregon, 3. Florida, 4. Texas Tech, 5. USC, 6. Arizona State, 7. LSU, 8. Auburn, 9. Florida State, and 10. Oklahoma. Big 12 schools among the top 25 include: 15. Nebraska, 17. Baylor, 18. Kansas State, and 19. Kansas. Seven men's teams from the Big 12 are ranked this week.
LSU fell to second in the women's rankings behind the Aggie women. The rest of the top 10 includes: 3. Oregon, 4. Oklahoma, 5. Virginia Tech, 6. Texas, 7. Clemson, 8. Penn State, 9. Arkansas, and 10. Florida. Other Big 12 squads in the top 25 are: 16. Nebraska, 18. Texas Tech, 21. Kansas, and 25. Baylor. Seven women's teams from the conference are ranked this week.