Rankings
NEW ORLEANS – The Slippery Rock University women's outdoor track and field team is ranked 16th in the preseason Division II National Team Rankings, released this week by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
This marks the first year that preseason rankings have been set for Division II. The rankings system awards points to individual athletes and relays based on a scale of where those performances rank among the top marks in the nation. In order to be eligible to count toward the preseason rankings, an athlete must have either produced their mark before March 27 of this season or in their last season of outdoor eligibility. The rankings will be released each week for the remainder of the season, based on performances from the 2011 season alone.
Slippery Rock came in 16th with a total of 74.40 points after all preseason data was collected. The Rock ranks second among Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference squads, with Shippensburg slotting in at 11th with 90.15 points. The PSAC is also represented by Indiana, which ranks 22nd with 50.82 points. Grand Valley State topped the rankings with 221.05 points.
Headlining the list of point scorers in the rankings is
Amanda Seigworth, who was awarded 20.34 points for her 400-meter hurdle performance of 59.23 seconds last season.
Allison Smith picked up 13.22 points for her time of 1:00.40 in the same event.
Whitney Hendershot earned 13.23 points for a clearance of 1.73 meters in the high jump and also picked up 3.80 points for her score of 4,595 points in the heptathlon.
Kim Stitt earned points in multiple events, picking up 4.58 points for her triple jump of 12.00 meters, 5.53 points for her heptathlon score of 4,712 and .08 points for her javelin mark of 39.46 meters.
Others receiving points for their performances last season include
Caitlin Hancox in the 800-meter run,
Crystal Burnick in the 10,000-meter run,
Jayme Stanek in the 400-meter hurdles,
Kim Goth in the javelin and
Kelly Fischer and
Angela Schroeder in the pole vault.
Burnick also picked up 2.39 points for her 5,000-meter performance last weekend, when she broke the Slippery Rock record with a time of 16:50.72 at the Raleigh Relays. Also earning points for her performance this season is
Julia Cain, who was awarded 1.10 points for her clearance of 3.50 meters in the pole vault.
The Rock will host its first meet of the season this Friday evening when California and Thiel visit the Bill Lennox track for a tri-meet.
