Texas A&M men earned its first ever national dual meet championship as determined by Track & Field News magazine after placing second, third and second over the previous three years. The Aggie women finished fifth in the 2015 dual meet rankings.
The A&M men defeated No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 10 Arizona State and No. 16 Oklahoma during a home indoor quadrangular meet in January. Finishing behind the Aggies in the men’s dual meet rankings were California, who topped the rankings in 2014, Oregon, Texas Tech, Illinois, USC, UCLA, Arkansas, Nebraska, Arizona State, Texas, Washington, Ohio State, Akron and Long Beach State.
The A&M women finished the season undefeated in its dual meet, having bettered No. 11 Texas Tech, No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 12 Arizona State at its home quadrangular in January.
Oregon, who has been ranked number one three of the past four years, topped the women’s dual meet rankings over Arkansas, Kentucky, USC, Texas A&M, UCLA, Florida State, Kansas, Kansas State, Washington, Texas Tech, Arizona State, Colorado State, Nebraska, Purdue and Texas.
Teams are ranked based on wins and losses, marks as well as strength and depth of their dual meet schedule. To be included in the dual meet rankings, a team must compete in one or more dual meets (defined as a scored meet between four or fewer teams).
Heading into the SEC Championships next weekend, May 14-16, the Aggie men are also No. 1 in the USTFCCCA national team computer rankings while the A&M women remain ranked at No. 9. The Aggie men are the defending SEC champions while the A&M women are the defending national champions after placing third in the SEC meet last season.
Teams among the top 10 behind the Aggie men in the national rankings include LSU, Florida, USC, Oregon, Texas, Texas Tech, Arkansas, Baylor and Georgia. The women’s top 10 incudes Arkansas, USC, Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, Oregon, LSU, Texas A&M and Kansas State.
Shelbi Vaughan, the defending SEC and NCAA champion in the discus, is among 10 athletes on the May version of the women’s watch list for The Bowerman Award. Half of the list is comprised of athletes from the SEC.
Vaughan is the collegiate leader in the discus this season with her winning mark of 201-8 from the Texas Relays. She recently completed her third regular season undefeated among collegians and will be seeking a third consecutive conference discus title during the SEC Championships next week.
