The University of Redlands men's track & field team shook up the national top 10 of the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III Outdoor Rankings by landing at the No. 9 spot, rising 37 spots from 46th. Bulldog women's track & field continues to climb in the national rankings as well, up one from last week with a season-high position at No. 12.
Based on a mathematical formula that calculates points from the current NCAA Division III Descending Order Lists, the men's team amassed an incredible 70.68 points for an improvement of 44.01. For the women, the team gathered 68.32 points for an improvement of 1.37 points from last week.
This is men's track & field's best ranking since 2011 when it took the eighth spot. The Bulldog men now sit third in the region with 320.86 points and five top-15 marks in Division III. Junior Luke Bohlinger (Mercer Island, WA) is now ranked second nationally in the 100 and 200 Meters with a 10.43 and 21.08, respectively. He also contributed his talents to the 4×100 Relay along with teammates junior Nick Burchett (Gold River, CA), sophomore Maliq Champion (Beaumont, CA), and first-year Domanick Murray (Palm Springs, CA), which now ranks third in the nation with a time of 41.47.
Additionally, junior Joseph Esparza (Arcata, CA) owns the 12th spot in the 3000 Steeplechase with a time of 9:17.53, while senior Wyatt Pannabecker (Choteau, MT) ranks 13th in the Triple Jump with a leap of 47' 9 ¾".
Sophomores Jessica Fields (Las Vegas, NV) and Chyenne Kimble (Big Bear Lake, CA) continue to impress for the women, as both are ranked among the top 10 in two events each. Fields takes the top spot in the 110 Hurdles, clocking in at 14.07. Kimble follows closely behind in the same event with an eighth-place time of 14.53. Fields also ranked among the nation's top 10 in the 400 Hurdles after firing off a 1:02.6 time. Additionally, Kimble takes the sixth spot in the Heptathlon with 4,487 points.
Furthermore, senior Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) ranks eighth in the Shot Put at 44' 7 ½" while senior Vanessa Blanchard (Palmdale, CA) sits ninth in the High Jump with a height of 5' 5 ¾". Finally, senior Mandy Widen (Vail, AZ) holds the 13th spot in the nation for the Pole Vault with a school-record mark of 12' 4".
Redlands women's track & field remains fourth in the West Region with 360.62 points.
For a complete list of the current outdoor rankings, please visit the USTFCCCA website. Click here for the men and here for the women.
Various members of the Redlands track & field teams look forward to competing at the Oxy Invitational on Saturday, May 12 in Eagle Rock. They then return home for the Redlands Final Qualifier on Wednesday, May 17 and Thursday, May 18.