MEN’S BASKETBALL
Men’s track & field ranked No. 5 nationally in first regular season ranking by USTFCCCA
NEW ORLEANS – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s indoor track and field team is ranked 5th nationally in the latest coaches poll, released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday.
Under the direction of first-year head coach George Pincock, the Lions have vaulted nine spots since the preseason ranking thanks to many scoring marks.
The nation’s best time in the distance medley relay is a huge boost in the computerized ranking system, accounting for 25.37 points of the Lions’ 85.09. The DMR team of Luis Romero, Austin Yaeger, Matthew Brown, and Erick Quiroz ran the race with a converted time of 10:01.57 at last weekend’s Missouri Southern Open.
Romero – announced as the Lone Star Conference Track Athlete of the Week, also on Tuesday – brings two more scoring marks to the Lions’ total with the third-best 3,000 meters time in the nation, as well as Division II’s fourth-fastest 800 meters time. Romero is the defending indoor National Champion in the 800 meters.
Devontae Steele brings 13.66 points to the table with the fifth-longest triple jump in the nation at 50 feet, 2 inches. Also scoring in the horizontal jumps is Gage Bowles with the 21st-best long jump in the country.
Newcomer Florian Obst has the seventh-best heptathlon score in the nation, as well as the 25th-best pole vault mark to add to the Lions’ total.
Sprinter Devon Sanders contributes with top 20 marks in the 60 meters (15th) and 200 meters (19th), while the 4×400 meters relay team of Romero, Quiroz, Josiah Dennis, and Dedrian Windham ranks 16th nationally.
USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION II
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2017 Week #1 — January 24
next ranking: January 31
Rank | Institution | Points | Last Week |
1 | Ashland | 207.68 | 6 |
2 | Tiffin | 169.77 | 2 |
3 | Adams State | 127.66 | 1 |
4 | Grand Valley State | 101.15 | 4 |
5 | A&M-COMMERCE | 85.09 | 14 |
6 | Saint Augustine’s | 80.87 | 5 |
7 | Minnesota State | 76.23 | 9 |
8 | Lincoln (Mo.) | 73.50 | 3 |
9 | Azusa Pacific | 72.42 | 8 |
10 | Central Missouri | 67.39 | 27 |
11 | Western State | 66.53 | 12 |
12 | CSU-Pueblo | 64.69 | 64 |
13 | Pittsburg State | 62.35 | 10 |
14 | Sioux Falls | 59.68 | 37 |
15 | Findlay | 53.13 | 11 |
16 | Angelo State | 52.20 | NR |
17 | West Texas A&M | 50.17 | 16 |
18 | A&M-Kingsville | 49.61 | 18 |
19 | Limestone | 47.91 | 17 |
20 | Shorter | 47.53 | 15 |
21 | Emporia State | 47.07 | 29 |
22 | Hillsdale | 38.72 | 23 |
23 | UC-Colorado Springs | 36.00 | 105 |
24 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 35.53 | 54 |
25 | Cal State Los Angeles | 34.98 | NR |
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Luis Romero named Lone Star Conference Men’s Track Athlete of the Week
RICHARDSON – Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s track athlete Luis Romero has been named the Lone Star Conference Indoor Track Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference office Tuesday.
Romero – a senior from El Paso and the defending Division II National Champion in the 800 meters – has won every race he has entered in the 2016-17 indoor track season.
He set a Lone Star Conference record in the 3,000 meters at the Crimson & Gold Invitational in December with a time of 8:12.44, the fastest time in the league this season.
Romero ran the fourth fastest 800 meters in the nation this season with a track size converted time of 1:51.98. He anchored the Distance Medley Relay team to a 10:01.57 time, which is the fastest in the nation and the only provisional mark set in that event so far. He was also on the 4×400 meter relay team that won the MSSU Southern Invitational at 3:19.58. Four of his five races this season are the fastest times in the LSC.
Romero and the Lions return to action on Saturday at the Pittsburg State Invitational in Pittsburg, Kan.
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Josh Manck
Director of Athletic Communications | Texas A&M University-Commerce