Kelby ZendejasThe Ole Miss men’s and women’s track and field teams moved up one spot in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings on Monday. The Rebel men now stand at No. 7, while the women sit at No. 19.
The new rankings come after the Rebels had stellar performances at the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn., over the weekend with a new broken record and high ranking performances.
The men’s No. 7 ranking marks the third consecutive top-10 seeded rank. During Week Two, the men ranked at No. 6, which set the program record for both the men’s and women’s cross country programs. In addition, this marks the 33rd appearance for the men since 2008.
Leaders for the Rebel men include running distance medley, Waleed Suliman, Baylor Franklin, Mario Garcia Romo and Everett Smulders, as they ran the third-best time in NCAA history and the second-best time in program history on Jan. 29 at the Razorback Invite. The time of 9:30.62 led to 18.60 points in the rating index.
During the Music City Challenge, all four runners broke the four-minute time mark with Suliman breaking his own school record with a time of 3:55.60. This marks his third career time below the four-minute mark, and his time currently ranks fourth nationally. Following behind his lead was Garcia Romo with a sub-four time of 3:56.46, which beats his previous personal record by seven seconds.
With Garcia Romo ranking fifth nationally for his mile, Smulders earned a 3:58.73 time and put the Georgia-native at No. 17 in the NCAA. Behind Smulders, came Franklin with a sub-four time of 3:59.12, setting him at No. 21 in the NCAA.
The men are also receiving points from the 800-meter event with Franklin earning a time of 1:48.59, Smulders earning a time of 1:48.75 and distance runner John Rivera Jr. earning a time of 1:49.09. In addition to the 800-meter, the Rebels are receiving points from 5K times and from within the field.
Meanwhile, the Rebel women broke records of their own. Senior distance runner Anna Elkin clocked a 19-second personal record in the women’s 3K with a time of 9:17.19, taking down the previous record set by Shelby Brown in 2017.
Distance runners are also clocking in times for the rating index. Distance runner Sintayehu Vissa became the fourth Rebel in as many meets to break the program record in the mile event with a time of 4:40.99, and he also ran the fastest 800-meter since 2017 two weeks ago with a time of 2:06.45.
There are also two women’s ranked pole vaulters and ranked team members in the sprinting events.
Ole Miss will now prepare for the SEC Indoor Championships on Feb. 25-27 at Arkansas.
