University of Tennessee Athletics
Track Vols fourth in rankings
April 16, 2008 | Men's Track
The Tennessee men???s track and field team is fourth with 217.82 points in this week???s US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings released Wednesday.
Texas A&M occupies the top spot with 301.67 points. LSU is second with 265.66 points, with UCLA???s 248.25 points ranking third. Two-time defending national champion Florida State rounds out the top five with 215.58 points.
Florida is the next SEC team after the Vols, ranking sixth with 209.19 points. The Gators are followed by Auburn in eighth with 192.64 points, Alabama in 12th with 122.13, Mississippi State in 16th with 117.40, Kentucky in 17th with 115.88, Georgia in 20th with 104.50 and South Carolina in 22nd with 99.88. The SEC???s nine ranked schools are more than any other conference. The SEC, Pac-10 and Big 12 are the only conferences with more than one ranked team this week.
The rankings use an updated scoring system based on athletes??? season-best marks to determine a team???s overall chances of making an impact at the national championship meet. The scoring system for the teams, compiled by Tom Lewis of Missouri, is the sum of its individuals??? place on the descending order list and a weighed value of those performances based on the field. The scoring method is based on the latest NCAA performance list.
Tennessee???s team score consists of two relays and 18 individual performances. Fourteen-time All-America Rubin Williams, the indoor 200 national champion, is ranked second in the event with his 20.60 clocking and eighth in the 100 with his time of 10.30. Three-time All-America Jangy Addy is fifth in the decathlon after recording an NCAA???automatic-qualifying score of 7,595 while winning the Sea Ray Relays, and freshman Michael Ayers is 10th following his NCAA provisional-qualifying score of 7,227. All-America Yarrick Kincaid???s season-best time of 1:49.53 ranks 11th in the 800. All-America Matthew Maloney moved up to 11th in the javelin following his 228-2 effort at the Sea Ray Relays.
Senior Andrew Dawson ranks 13th in the 800 with his 1:49.59 clocking and 44th in the 1,500 with his time of 3:46.81. Junior Nick Panezich is 16th in the discus with his throw of 184-3, recorded at the Sea Ray Relays, and ranks 55th in the shot put with his 56-3 1/4 effort. Three-time All-America Evander Wells is 17th in the 200 with his 20.93 time and 27th in the 100 with his time of 10.45. Sophomore Brad Holtz ranks 19th in the pole vault with his SEC-leading clearance of 16-10 3/4. Three-time All-America Michael Hogue and freshman Joseph Berry are tied for 26th in the event with season-best clearances of 16-6 3/4. Junior Richard Wooten???s hammer throw of 198-2 ranks him 43rd, and fellow junior Akeem Hardnett is 43rd in the triple jump with his 49-10 1/2 leap. Team captain Matthieu Pritchett???s time of 10.55 ranks him 54th in the 100.
Tennessee???s All-America 4x100 relay team of Pritchett, Wells, Kyle Stevenson and Williams is fourth with a time of 39.39, and the 4x400 relay team of Samdi Fraser, Stevenson, Williams and Wells ranks 14th with a time of 3:08.46.
Tennessee is one of only six teams with at least 20 ranked performances this week. The complete rankings can be found at USTFCCCA.com.
