@MIZ_TrackField Men Make History with Top 20 National Ranking

5/16/2016 2:31:00 PM | Track & Field

The Tigers are No. 19 in the NCAA after the SEC Championships

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Track & Field made one of the biggest jumps in this week's national rankings, as the men moved from No. 35 to No. 19 after an exciting weekend of performances at the SEC Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This is the highest ranking for the men since the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) poll began in 2008, and only the third time they've broken into the top-25 (No. 24 in 2006 and No. 25 in 2010).

The jump comes after a successful SEC Championships weekend, where the men had their highest placing since joining the conference in 2012. Their eighth place finish was only three points behind No. 6 Georgia, and beat out Mississippi State and South Carolina, who entered the weekend ranked No. 13 and No. 22, respectively. These are the final rankings before the NCAA Preliminary Rounds (May 27-28), which serve as the qualifying meets into the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, next month. The SEC continues to dominate the national rankings for both the men and women with nine of the top 25 teams in both the men's and women's rankings.

MEN	RANK	WOMEN
Texas A&M LSU Florida Oregon Arkansas Georgia Alabama Texas Houston Texas Tech. Virginia Tennessee Minnesota Stanford Virginia Tech. Purdue Washington Syracuse MIZZOU Nebraska Florida State Mississippi State Northern Arizona UCLA Kansas	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.	Arkansas Kentucky Oregon Southern California Kansas State Texas Florida LSU Texas A&M Stanford Georgia Tennessee Oklahoma New Mexico Miami (Fla.) Mississippi State Harvard Wisconsin Texas Tech. Oklahoma State Florida State Washington Baylor Nebraska Alabama

The team was led by podium finishes from freshmen Matthew Ludwig and Kahmari Montgomery, junior Reinhard Van Zyl, and senior Markesh Woodson, who all placed in the top-three of their respective events to earn All-SEC honors.

Van Zyl was the first All-SEC finisher of the weekend for the Tigers, throwing a new PR in the javelin (75.91m // 249-0) to place second in the conference.

Ludwig was next, jumping 5.31m (17-5) in the pole vault to place third.

Woodson closed his final SEC Championship meet with his fifth All-SEC honor, placing third in the 100m dash (10.20).

Finally, Montgomery returned to claim the conference title in the 400m dash, running a school record of 45.13 to repeat his winning performance from the indoor championship meet. That time, the second-fastest in the NCAA so far this season, is also the No. 13 performance in the world.

All four men are currently ranked in the top 15 in the NCAA - Montgomery, No. 2 (400m dash); Woodson, No. 7 (100m dash); Van Zyl, No. 7 (javelin); and Ludwig, No. 13 (pole vault).

The Tigers now look toward the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Lawrence, Kansas, from May 27-28. Fielded by the top 48 ranked athletes in each event in the west region, this year's qualifying team is shaping up to be the largest in program history with over 30 qualifiers so far out of the men's and women's teams. For the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.