NEW ORLEANS - Texas A&M men went from receiving votes the past couple of weeks for a national top 30 ranking to earning a position at No. 27 in the latest release of the USTFCCCA Division I national cross country poll.
Following a seventh-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational, which featured eight nationally ranked squads, the Aggies were rewarded for finishing ahead of four top 30 programs. In addition, the A&M crew moved from No. 3 to No. 2 in the South Central Region rankings, overtaking a Texas squad that dropped out of the national rankings this week.
"It's nice for our men's team to get some respect for their performance this past weekend," A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven said. "We are aware it's still early in the season and we know we have a lot of work left to get where we want to be by the end of the season."
This achievement marks the first time Aggie cross country has been ranked among the top 30 men's programs since 2008, when the A&M crew reached as high as 18th in a late October poll. Since 1998 through the present rankings, this is the 14th time for an Aggie cross country team to rank among the top 30. They have also ranked among the top 20 four times in that time span.
Texas A&M men and women return to action on October 14 at the Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, which features plenty of ranked teams among the 40 schools entered from various regions.
Academic honor for Texas A&M's Kevin Burnett
Career Communications Group, Inc. has announced that Texas A&M track and field athlete Kevin Burnett has received an academic honor within its STEM Award program.
Burnett has been invited to attend the Student Leadership Awards dinner during the 16th annual Women of Color in Technology and Business Conference, co-hosted by Northrop Grumman Corporation. The event will take place at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas on November 4.