Jan. 30, 2008

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The University of Memphis women's track and field program enters the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I rankings as No. 12, in the first regular-season poll of 2008. This is the first time in school history that the women's program has ever been ranked.

The women's track and field program has started off the 2008 indoor season remarkably well. After being ranked preseason No.89, the Lady Tigers climbed to No. 12, by the time the first poll of the season came out.

"To my knowledge this is the first time the women's team has been ranked," said Head Coach Kevin Robinson. "So, to debut at No. 12, definitely shows that we're on the right track. With Susan (King), Sivan (Aballi) and Charlotte (Abrahamsen) all being in the Top 10, it's a good solid core group of elite athletes. I still do not think that they have reached their potential for the season. I expect bigger and better performances from all three and I hope that they will be joined by a few others."

Susan King has an NCAA automatic qualifying mark o 17.13 meters in the shot put, where she is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. Sivan Aballi has an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 15.79 meters in the shot put where she sits in the No. 9 spot. Charlotte Abrahamsen has a NCAA provisional qualifying point total of 3858 in the pentathlon, where she is ranked No. 4.

Memphis has never had three female track and field athletes ranked in the nation at the same time. They are the only Conference USA team ranked in the Top 25.

The 2008 USTFCCCA Division I Rankings are compiled strictly from the NCAA descending order lists. The USTFCCCA indoor rankings are based on the descending order lists of the 2008 season.

The 2008 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held March 14-15 in Fayetteville, Ark.

USTFCCCA Division I women's indoor track and field rankings
Jan. 30, 2008

Rank    School            Preseason
1       LSU                 1
2       Tennessee           3
3       Texas A&M           8
4       Arkansas            9
5       Michigan            4
6       Virginia Tech       10
7       Mississippi         17
8       Minnesota           15
9       Penn State          12
10      South Carolina      6
11      Florida             13
12      Memphis             89
13      Baylor              35
14      Southern Illinois   20
15      Purdue              57
16      Texas               11
17      Georgia Tech        42
18      Kansas              27
19      Kansas State        31
20      Arizona             56
21      Arizona State       2
22      Indiana             7
23      Oregon              45
24      Florida State       --
25      Texas Tech          7