COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Tiger women moved back into the top 20 of the national rankings, as released by the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) on Monday (March 2), coming in at No. 18 after the SEC Championships weekend. The team has maintained a spot in the top 25 of the NCAA for six of the seven releases this season, making this the best year for the Tigers in the rankings since 2008.
Included in the top 25 are eight SEC teams, including four in the top five, making the conference the best-ranked in the NCAA.
This release comes after an exciting SEC Championships for the team, highlighted by the third SEC title for senior Kearsten Peoples, who won the weight throw competition (22.45m / 73-8). Peoples currently leads the NCAA with her PR mark of 22.84m (74-11.25), which also landed her at No. 7 in collegiate history for the event.
Also earning All-SEC honors was senior Jill Rushin, who placed second in the shot put competition with a lifetime best toss of 17.61m (57-9.50). Rushin now sits at No. 5 on the national rankings heading into the NCAA Championships, followed by Peoples who is No. 10 with her mark from the SEC Championships - 17.03m (55-10.50).
The Tigers are off for two weeks before heading to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA Championships on March 13 and 14. Peoples and Rushin will be joined by junior Markesh Woodson, who qualified with his spot at No. 5 on the 60m dash rankings after he clockeda new school record, and second place finish, at the SEC Championships in 6.58.
For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter at MIZ_TrackField.
USTFCCCA NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS
| 1. | Arkansas |
| 2. | Georgia |
| 3. | Florida |
| 4. | Kentucky |
| 5. | Texas |
| 6. | Kansas State |
| 7. | Oregon |
| 8. | Texas A&M |
| 9. | Baylor |
| 10. | Southern California |
| 11. | Michigan State |
| 12. | Mississippi State |
| 13. | Georgetown |
| 14. | Wisconsin |
| 15. | Clemson |
| 16. | Akron |
| 17. | Southern Illinois |
| 18. | Missouri |
| 19. | Providence |
| 20. | LSU |
| 21. | Stanford |
| 22. | Florida State |
| 23. | Texas Tech. |
| 24. | Iona |
| 25. | Notre Dame |