Third SEC Runner of the Week honor for Henry Lelei
Texas A&M senior Henry Lelei earned a third SEC Runner of the Week honor after placing fourth among the national caliber field assembled at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational this past weekend.
Lelei clocked 23:26 on the 8,000-meter course, improving the 24:16 he ran the previous year in placing 26th during the 2011 race. Lelei finished behind the 2011 NCAA champion, Arizona's Lawi Lalang (23:03), and the 2010 NCAA runner-up in Stephen Sambu (23:07), also of Arizona.
The Aggie men placed 19th among 45 teams at the Wisconsin Invitational and returned to the national rankings at No. 29. Previously this season A&M reached a best of 14th in the USTFCCCA national coaches' poll. In the South Central region rankings the Aggie men are currently No. 3 while the A&M women are No. 5.
Oklahoma State became the new No. 1 men's team as Wisconsin, the defending national champions, dropped from the top spot to No. 20 after placing 17th at its home meet. The rest of the new top 10 for this week includes Colorado, Stanford, Iona, BYU, Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, Arkansas and Columbia. Other SEC schools in the men's poll include Georgia at No. 28 while Missouri is receiving votes.
The women's national top 10 includes Florida State, Iowa State, Oregon, Stanford, Arizona, Washington, Michigan, Cornell, Georgetown and Providence. SEC teams in the national poll include Arkansas at No. 12, Vanderbilt at No. 28, and Florida at No. 30, while Kentucky is receiving votes.
Up next for the Aggies is the SEC Championships, held Friday, Oct. 26, in Nashville, Tennessee with Vanderbilt serving as the host school. The conference meet will take place at Percy Warner Park with the women starting at 10 a.m. on a 6,000-meter course while the men cover an 8,000-meter course beginning at 11 a.m.
HOUSTON BAPTIST OPEN
A second group of Aggie runners competed at the Houston Baptist Open this past Friday in Houston. The Texas A&M women won the meet with 20 points as they were led by Heather Sterling's individual winning effort. Sterling ran the three-mile course in 17:56 to finish ahead of Houston Baptist's Jessica Whitt (18:02).
The Aggies claimed four of the top five places with Laura Craig (18:33), Johanna Galloway (18:44) and Julie Blanco (18:45). Margo Lyons rounded out the scoring five in seventh place (19:05) while Rachel Williams was the sixth runner in 12th place (19:35).
Four Aggie men competed in the meet. The leading duo was Jake Hervey (20:42) and Jake Roberts (20:43), who placed sixth and seventh on the four-mile course. Weston O'Donnell (21:24) finished 16th while Dylan Williams (21:54) placed 23rd.
USTFCCCA NATIONAL RANKINGS
MEN
|
Rank |
Institution (FPV) |
Points |
Region |
Conference |
|
1 |
Oklahoma State (6) |
353 |
Midwest |
Big 12 |
|
2 |
Colorado (4) |
343 |
Mountain |
Pac-12 |
|
3 |
Stanford (2) |
339 |
West |
Pac-12 |
|
4 |
Iona |
322 |
Northeast |
Metro Atlantic |
|
5 |
BYU |
316 |
Mountain |
West Coast |
|
6 |
Oklahoma |
306 |
Midwest |
Big 12 |
|
7 |
Texas |
283 |
South Central |
Big 12 |
|
8 |
Oregon |
275 |
West |
Pac-12 |
|
9 |
Arkansas |
257 |
South Central |
SEC |
|
10 |
Columbia |
251 |
Northeast |
Ivy |
|
11 |
Michigan |
227 |
Great Lakes |
Big Ten |
|
12 |
New Mexico |
206 |
Mountain |
Mountain West |
|
13 |
Eastern Kentucky |
198 |
Southeast |
Ohio Valley |
|
14 |
Florida State |
186 |
South |
ACC |
|
15 |
UCLA |
182 |
West |
Pac-12 |
|
16 |
Syracuse |
165 |
Northeast |
Big East |
|
17 |
Portland |
159 |
West |
West Coast |
|
18 |
Duke |
146 |
Southeast |
ACC |
|
19 |
Tulsa |
139 |
Midwest |
Conf. USA |
|
20 |
Wisconsin |
134 |
Great Lakes |
Big Ten |
|
21 |
Virginia Tech |
131 |
Southeast |
ACC |
|
22 |
Northern Arizona |
126 |
Mountain |
Big Sky |
|
23 |
Princeton |
115 |
Mid-Atlantic |
Ivy |
|
24 |
Indiana |
103 |
Great Lakes |
Big Ten |
|
25 |
Iowa State |
80 |
Midwest |
Big 12 |
|
25 |
Villanova |
80 |
Mid-Atlantic |
Big East |
|
27 |
Georgetown |
49 |
Mid-Atlantic |
Big East |
|
28 |
Georgia |
47 |
South |
SEC |
|
29 |
Texas A&M |
38 |
South Central |
SEC |
|
30 |
Kansas |
15 |
Midwest |
Big 12 |
WOMEN
|
Rank |
Institution (FPV) |
Points |
Region |
Conference |
|
1 |
Florida State (11) |
359 |
South |
ACC |
|
2 |
Iowa State (1) |
346 |
Midwest |
Big 12 |
|
3 |
Oregon |
332 |
West |
Pac-12 |
|
4 |
Stanford |
330 |
West |
Pac-12 |
|
5 |
Arizona |
307 |
West |
Pac-12 |
|
6 |
Washington |
295 |
West |
Pac-12 |
|
7 |
Michigan |
280 |
Great Lakes |
Big Ten |
|
7 |
Cornell |
280 |
Northeast |
Ivy |
|
9 |
Georgetown |
261 |
Mid-Atlantic |
Big East |
|
10 |
Providence |
257 |
Northeast |
Big East |
|
11 |
Duke |
234 |
Southeast |
ACC |
|
12 |
Arkansas |
229 |
South Central |
SEC |
|
13 |
Penn State |
211 |
Mid-Atlantic |
Big Ten |
|
14 |
Texas |
202 |
South Central |
Big 12 |
|
15 |
Michigan State |
180 |
Great Lakes |
Big Ten |
|
16 |
Weber State |
176 |
Mountain |
Big Sky |
|
17 |
New Mexico |
157 |
Mountain |
Mountain West |
|
18 |
William and Mary |
149 |
Southeast |
Colonial |
|
19 |
Notre Dame |
146 |
Great Lakes |
Big East |
|
20 |
Toledo |
134 |
Great Lakes |
Mid-American |
|
21 |
Colorado |
116 |
Mountain |
Pac-12 |
|
22 |
Yale |
105 |
Northeast |
Ivy |
|
22 |
Villanova |
105 |
Mid-Atlantic |
Big East |
|
24 |
UCLA |
68 |
West |
Pac-12 |
|
25 |
Minnesota |
67 |
Midwest |
Big Ten |
|
26 |
Boston College |
61 |
Northeast |
ACC |
|
27 |
Oklahoma State |
53 |
Midwest |
Big 12 |
|
28 |
Vanderbilt |
48 |
South |
SEC |
|
29 |
Connecticut |
25 |
Northeast |
Big East |
|
30 |
Florida |
24 |
South |
SEC |
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
Men: 1. Texas; 2. Arkansas; 3. Texas A&M; 4. McNeese State; 5. Lamar; 6. Rice; 7. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; 8. UT-Arlington; 9. Stephen F. Austin; 10. Central Arkansas.
Women: 1. Arkansas; 2. Texas; 3. SMU; 4. LSU; 5. Texas A&M; 6. Baylor; 7. UTSA; 8. TCU; 9. Stephen F. Austin; 10. Arkansas State.
