By Layne Weitzel, TTU Sports Information
NEW ORLEANS – The Tennessee Tech men's cross country team has been rewarded for its performance at last weekend's Mountain Dew Invitational with a jump in the latest USTFCCCA South Region rankings, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday.
Ranked 11th in the preseason, Week 1 and Week 2 polls, Tech has moved up to No. 10 in Week 3, tying its highest USTFCCCA ranking in program history. The Golden Eagles were ranked 10th for three-straight weeks in the 2016 season.
Tech appeared at Florida's Mountain Dew Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 23, running to a second-place team finish in its first-ever showing at the meet. Sophomore Gilbert Boit captured his second-straight individual title of the season, and Tech's other four scorers (Brannon Cheplak, Sammy Kipkirui, Benard Sigei and Ababu Mohamed) all finished within the top 45 of the 199 total runners.
The full list of the USTFCCCA South Region men's Week 3 rankings is as follows:
- Middle Tennessee (last week's ranking: 1)
- Ole Miss (last week's ranking: 2)
- Alabama (last week's ranking: 3)
- Florida State (last week's ranking: 4)
- Georgia Tech (last week's ranking: 5)
- Tennessee (last week's ranking: 6)
- Georgia (last week's ranking: 7)
- Samford (last week's ranking: 8)
- North Florida (last week's ranking: 9)
- TENNESSEE TECH (last week's ranking: 11)
- Florida (last week's ranking: 11)
- Belmont (last week's ranking: 13)
- Lipscomb (last week's ranking: 12)
- Auburn (last week's ranking: NR)
- East Tennessee State (last week's ranking: 15)
The Tech men's next competition will be Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Sam Bell Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana.
The USTFCCCA regional cross country rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning teams' strengths with current season results in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.
Photo by Jim Dillon
