Colorado State University Athletics
Photo by: Tim Nwachukwu/NCAA Photos
Rams’ men ranked 15th by USTFCCCA for third consecutive week
4/9/2018 3:40:00 PM | Track & Field
Rams ranked in top 15 for third straight week and place as Mountain West’s highest-ranked team
NEW ORLEANS – For the third straight week, the Colorado State men's track & field team is ranked at No. 15 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track & Field National Team Rankings. The organization's week two rankings were released on Monday.
Colorado State's men's team has retained its preseason ranking of No. 15 - its highest preseason outdoor ranking all-time from the USTFCCCA - throughout this outdoor season. CSU has now been in the top 25 in 12 consecutive USTFCCCA computer rankings in outdoor track & field. The Rams' men's team is the only women's or men's Mountain West squad to be ranked in the top 25, and is the highest-ranked men's or women's team from the state of Colorado.
The USTFCCCA's computer rankings assign points totals to individual student-athletes based upon how that athlete's career-best marks and times rank based upon historical data. Those points totals for those individual student-athletes are tallied to reach the respective team's points total for that week's rankings. The purpose of the computer rankings is to project how a team could finish at the NCAA Championships. CSU earned 111.51 points this week.
The top points contributor to the Rams' ranking remains Mostafa Hassan, who returns the nation's best shot put mark prior to this season, 69-11/21.31m, by over three feet (66-10.25/20.39m by Virginia's Oghenakpobo Efekoro). Hassan, who placed as the runner-up in that event at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, is a two-time NCAA champion in the indoor shot put (2017 and 2018), a five-time First-Team All-American, three-time Mountain West Student-Athlete of the Year, a five-time Mountain West champion and the Mountain West and CSU record holder in the shot put.
Colorado State receives major contributions to its points total from the distance crew, with each of Cole Rockhold, Jerrell Mock and Grant Fischer running elite times in their respective 2018 outdoor debuts at the Stanford Invitational. Mock and Fischer ran their respective second career sub-29-minute times in the 10,000 meters at Stanford, and are the only athletes in program history to break the 29-minute mark. Mock (28:46.86) ranks seventh in the 10,000 in the NCAA this season, while Fischer (28:54.19) ranks ninth. Rockhold places third in the nation in the 5,000 meters after running the race at Stanford in 13:40.29. Rockhold's time was a personal best by over 12 seconds, and ranks second in program history.
Rounding out top points contributors for CSU is decathlete Hunter Price, who enters his senior season with the Rams with the seventh-best returning score in the nation (7,801 points). The native of Arvada, Colo., did not compete during the 2017-18 indoor season, but set Mountain West and CSU records in the heptathlon (5,996 points) during the 2016-17 indoor season and the CSU decathlon record last outdoor season. Price is the highest NCAA finisher in the heptathlon in Mountain West history (fourth), and enters this season as a three-time Mountain West champion and nine-time All-Mountain West performer. Decathlete Nick Kravec (7,047 points) is also considered for the rankings and returned the nation's No. 49 score.
Other Rams highly ranked on the men's NCAA West Qualifying List include Wayde Hall (No. 19 – 5,000 meters), Carson Hume (No. 26 – 1,500 meters, No. 28 – 5,000 meters), Jalen Hunter (No. 26 – 110-meter hurdles) and Ronald Sayles (No. 29 – 400 meters).
The Colorado State track & field team will co-host the NoCo Challenge with Northern Colorado on Saturday, April 14. The meet will be held from Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo.
Colorado State's men's team has retained its preseason ranking of No. 15 - its highest preseason outdoor ranking all-time from the USTFCCCA - throughout this outdoor season. CSU has now been in the top 25 in 12 consecutive USTFCCCA computer rankings in outdoor track & field. The Rams' men's team is the only women's or men's Mountain West squad to be ranked in the top 25, and is the highest-ranked men's or women's team from the state of Colorado.
The USTFCCCA's computer rankings assign points totals to individual student-athletes based upon how that athlete's career-best marks and times rank based upon historical data. Those points totals for those individual student-athletes are tallied to reach the respective team's points total for that week's rankings. The purpose of the computer rankings is to project how a team could finish at the NCAA Championships. CSU earned 111.51 points this week.
The top points contributor to the Rams' ranking remains Mostafa Hassan, who returns the nation's best shot put mark prior to this season, 69-11/21.31m, by over three feet (66-10.25/20.39m by Virginia's Oghenakpobo Efekoro). Hassan, who placed as the runner-up in that event at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, is a two-time NCAA champion in the indoor shot put (2017 and 2018), a five-time First-Team All-American, three-time Mountain West Student-Athlete of the Year, a five-time Mountain West champion and the Mountain West and CSU record holder in the shot put.
Colorado State receives major contributions to its points total from the distance crew, with each of Cole Rockhold, Jerrell Mock and Grant Fischer running elite times in their respective 2018 outdoor debuts at the Stanford Invitational. Mock and Fischer ran their respective second career sub-29-minute times in the 10,000 meters at Stanford, and are the only athletes in program history to break the 29-minute mark. Mock (28:46.86) ranks seventh in the 10,000 in the NCAA this season, while Fischer (28:54.19) ranks ninth. Rockhold places third in the nation in the 5,000 meters after running the race at Stanford in 13:40.29. Rockhold's time was a personal best by over 12 seconds, and ranks second in program history.
Rounding out top points contributors for CSU is decathlete Hunter Price, who enters his senior season with the Rams with the seventh-best returning score in the nation (7,801 points). The native of Arvada, Colo., did not compete during the 2017-18 indoor season, but set Mountain West and CSU records in the heptathlon (5,996 points) during the 2016-17 indoor season and the CSU decathlon record last outdoor season. Price is the highest NCAA finisher in the heptathlon in Mountain West history (fourth), and enters this season as a three-time Mountain West champion and nine-time All-Mountain West performer. Decathlete Nick Kravec (7,047 points) is also considered for the rankings and returned the nation's No. 49 score.
Other Rams highly ranked on the men's NCAA West Qualifying List include Wayde Hall (No. 19 – 5,000 meters), Carson Hume (No. 26 – 1,500 meters, No. 28 – 5,000 meters), Jalen Hunter (No. 26 – 110-meter hurdles) and Ronald Sayles (No. 29 – 400 meters).
The Colorado State track & field team will co-host the NoCo Challenge with Northern Colorado on Saturday, April 14. The meet will be held from Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo.
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