March 15, 2003

Columbia, S.C. –
The South Carolina women’s track team sits atop the final “Team Power Rankings” announced by the Division I Coaches Association of the U.S. Track Coaches Association.

USC was honored with its first poll title during a ceremony at the coaches’ meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., site of this weekend’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The No. 1 women’s ranking is the highest finish for South Carolina in the poll while the men’s team finished with a No. 9 ranking, its best finish.

The rankings, compiled by Dave Nielsen, head coach at Idaho State, rank teams on the basis of quality of athletic performance, team depth and dual meet scoring potential. Points are assigned for two athletes in each event contested in a dual meet and assigned on the basis of performance. The top person in each event has his or her points doubled to adjust for the value of the top performer on each team in a dual meet. The points for all events are totaled for the ranking score.

Following USC on the women’s side was LSU, North Carolina, Florida and Nebraska. The men’s top five was led by Minnesota, Nebraska, Florida, Ohio State and Eastern Michigan.