Western Washington men enter USTFCCCA index rankings at number 23...
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| Brian Le, Drew Weber, Jonah Bloom & Will Henry set a new school record in the distance medley relay at the UW Invitational in Seattle (WWU Sports Information photo) |
NEW ORLEANS--For the first time this season, the Western Washington men's track and field team is ranked in the USTFCCCA's weekly Division II National Track & Field Rating Index.
The Vikings come in at number 23 based on the strength of marks set at the UW Invitational in Seattle last weekend.
The Vikings ran the number two time in the country in the distance medley relay, as the team of Will Henry, Brian Le, Jonah Bloom and Drew Weber ran to a school record time of 9:45.48, breaking the mark set by the 2022 squad that ran 9:50.83, which included Weber.
That mark is currently the second fastest time in NCAA Division II this season.
Weber also put some ranking points up in the 800, as he ran 1:50.36 for 800 meters, which stands as the fourth fastest time in Division II so far this season.
The national top five men's teams in Division II are in order: Pittsburg State, Adams State, West Texas A&M, UC-Colorado Springs, and Grand Valley State.
The only other school in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference that is nationally ranked is Simon Fraser, which enters the rankings for the first time this season at number 20.
Simon Fraser's women's team is the only GNAC squad nationally ranked, coming in at number 12.
The nation's top five Division II women's teams are in order: Minnesota State, Grand Valley State, Pittsburg State, Northwest Missouri, and Adams State.
The USTFCCCA track and field rating index is comprised solely of marks reported to the TFRRS site. This objective list is compiled solely of current qualifying marks from the 2023 indoor track & field season.
PRO NOTES:
Last Saturday in Wanganui, New Zealand, former Husky Sam Tanner won his country's national championship in the mile, clocking a personal best of 3:54.56 at the Pak' N Save Cooks Classic meet.
The Commonwealth Games 1500m sixth-place finisher and all-time New Zealand 1500m number two, demonstrated his class to show a clean pair of heels to the opposition over the final lap to trim 0.41 from his lifetime best set when he won the 2021 New Zealand mile title.
His mark is currently the fastest time in the world outdoors so far this season.
Tanner is scheduled to run in the United States this Saturday at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, where he'll face among others, former Husky teammate Cruz Culpepper, who recently turned pro and is competing for Hoka Northern Arizona Elite, and training partners Sam Prakel & Johnny Gregorek, who were the pacesetters in last week's historic mile race at the Dempsey, where all eight UW runners broke four minutes.
Athletics New Zealand's release is available here.
Athletics Australia has formally named Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle to its team for the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia on February 18th.
Batt-Doyle, a Tokyo Olympian at 5000 meters, finished fourth at the Australian World Cross Country Trials a few weeks ago.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, Athletics New Zealand, and Athletics Australia contributed to this report.
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