Women’s Track & Field No. 5 in Preseason USTFCCCA Computer Ratings

Jan. 6, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – The women’s track & field team is No. 5 in the preseason computer ratings released Thursday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Clemson is coming off a 2010 indoor season that saw the women’s team tie for seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Clemson’s fifth-place preseason rating is a strong statement considering the Tigers will be without the services of three of their most decorated student-athletes for the indoor season in Michaylin Golladay, Patricia Mamona and Liane Weber. All three exhausted their indoor eligibility last winter, but will be eligible in the spring for outdoor season.

Oregon, defending NCAA champions in women’s track & field, were atop the preseason ratings generated by the USTFCCCA computers (181.56). Texas A&M (154.07) was second, followed by LSU (119.08) in third. Tennessee (98.80) edged out Clemson (97.56) for fourth.

Clemson returns several of the nation’s top performers from a year ago, including April Sinkler in three individual events. She owns top-three national marks in the preseason (based on personal bests) in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. Sinkler was named ACC indoor and outdoor MVP for the field events, giving her three honors in her career. She is a four-time All-American and six-time ACC champion heading into her senior season in indoor track & field.

Brianna Rollins was also among the national leaders in a pair of events last season as a freshman, before an injury forced her to red-shirt the outdoor season. Rollins finished ninth at the NCAA Championships in the 60m hurdles and also led the 4x400m relay to a fifth-place, All-America finish. Rollins was the ACC champion and 14th-place NCAA finisher in the 200 meters and the conference’s Indoor Freshman of the Year as well. Rollins’ personal best 8.17 in the 60 hurdles is the nation’s No. 4 time for returning student-athletes.

Kim Ruck is a returning All-American in the 5000 meters. She placed seventh in the event last March at the NCAA Indoor Championships, her first national meet competition. Ruck also claimed an ACC championship in the event last season, a first for a Clemson female distance runner in 16 years.