MIT men’s, women’s track and field teams move up rankings
Men’s is ranked fourth in nation, women’s is second
Already in its fourth week, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll released on Wednesday afternoon revealed that both the MIT men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams have moved up in the rankings. Tech’s men, who were ninth last week, are now fourth, while the women’s squad moved up from third to second.
Sitting behind UW-La Crosse in first, UW-Oshkosh in second, and North Central (Ill.) in third, the MIT men’s team has slowly made its way up the rankings since the start of the season. Sitting sixth in the preseason poll, the Engineers dipped to 11th during the first week before moving up to ninth for the following two weeks and settling into fourth, its highest ranking so far this season. The highest the Cardinal and Gray were ranked last year was 13th.
Including the preseason rankings, Tech’s women’s team has been second in the nation in three of the five polls that the organization has released. MIT currently sits behind UW-La Crosse and ahead of UW-Oshkosh, with Wartburg, who had held onto first up until this week, in fourth. The highest the Engineers were ranked last season was eighth.
This past weekend, the Cardinal and Gray competed in meets at Boston University and Tufts University, breaking four records in the process. States Lee ‘16 ran a 48.45 in the 400m, breaking by just one one-hundredth of a second the MIT record that had remained untouched for more than 20 years. Louise E. van den Heuvel ‘14 broke the MIT record and earned a personal record in the 800m when she crossed the line in 2:11.98 while, in the 1000m, Christina R. Wicker ‘17 took down both the MIT freshman and varsity record with her time of 2:55.37.
Next up for MIT is the New England Division III Championships, which will take place from Friday through Saturday, Feb. 21-22. The men’s team will be hosting the meet for the first time since 2009, while the women’s squad will travel to Springfield College.