Feb. 16, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the first time in five seasons, the Gamecock men’s track and field team earned a spot in the USTFCCCA’s weekly top 25 rankings. The poll, released Monday afternoon, has Carolina rising 34 spots overall to claim the No. 24 position. The last time the men were in the top 25 was week six of the 2010 indoor season.

The impetus for this big move was another strong weekend of results, this time at the Tyson Invitational. Five different Gamecocks earned top 25 times on the national level, highlighted by Jermaine Collier’s seventh-fastest time in the 60 meter hurdles.

His time of 7.76 gives the team two in the top ten nationally, joining Dondre Echols’ second-fastest time of 7.72, and four hurdlers are now among the top 21 in the country. Freshman Isaiah Moore (14th) and Jussi Kanervo (21st) round out what could be a high-scoring event for the team at nationals.

Along with Collier and the hurdlers, Ncincilili Titi ran the 23rd-fastest time in the 200 and Clayton Gravesande ran the 25th-fastest 400. He then followed that up with the first leg of the 4×400 relay team that ran the 23rd-fastest time in the country, all coming last weekend at Arkansas.

Carolina now becomes the eighth Southeastern Conference school to sit in the top 25, with Florida currently holding the No. 1 ranking in the country. The team returns home this weekend for the Gamecock Invitational, its final home meet of the 2015 season.