LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the second season in a row, the Kentucky women’s track and field program will begin the indoor season ranked in the preseason top 10, as the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association ranked the Wildcats No. 6 in its initial computer rankings on Tuesday.
The Wildcats began 2014 ranked No. 6 as well, which is the school record.
The USTFCCCA computer rankings are based on an algorithm developed by the organization’s Director of Media, Broadcasting, and Analytics Tom Lewis.
The algorithm was developed to serve as a close-to-comprehensive predictor of NCAA Championship finishes. The two biggest deviations from typical form charts, which only account for the top eight performers in a particular season, are a bonus for separation from the field and points for athletes ranked outside of the top eight on performance lists.
Kentucky will look to build off what was one of the best years in program history in 2014 as 2015 begins.
The Big Blue Nation will have multiple opportunities to witness the highly-ranked Wildcats take on the very best of collegiate track and field in Lexington at Nutter Field House throughout the 2015 indoor season.
The Wildcats will host what has become one of the best regular-season fields of any meet in the nation for the Rod McCravy MemorialJan. 23-24. Defending Men’s and Women’s National Indoor Champions Oregon, in addition to defending Women’s SEC Indoor Champions Florida, defending Men’s SEC Indoor Champions Arkansas and national powers Florida State, LSU, Texas, Baylor, USC and Georgia amongst other elite squads are slated to compete at the McCravy meet.
The Wildcats will host the nation’s top conference meet, the Southeastern Championships Feb. 27-28.
A nation-high eight SEC teams are ranked in the women’s top 25.
The SEC and Big Ten both put six teams in the men’s top 25, though the SEC put all six in the top 13, while four of the Big Ten’s checked in between 14th and 25th.
UK’s first meet of 2015 will be the Kentucky Invitational, Jan. 16-17 in Lexington as some of the region’s top teams will look to shake off any rust accumulated over the holiday break.
Dezerea Bryant, the defending NCAA 200m Champion, showed her class over the extra 100m with a winning time of 36.70 to begin the season in December. Bryant's time was the fourth fastest indoor 300m time ever by a collegian.
Seven returning Wildcats combined to earn a total of 10 All-America accolades indoors last year. Seven athletes won a total of eight All-America honors outdoors last season. The Kentucky women’s track and field team scored its most points ever at a NCAA Indoor Championships in 2014, finishing with 23 points for ninth place nationally.
The ninth-place finish earned the Wildcats their highest women’s team placement since 1989 when UK ended the meet eighth with the University’s previous all-time NCAA Indoor high score, 15 points.
The UK women’s team also finished inside the national top 10 for the second time ever, the other being 1989. Dezerea Bryant finished the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships as the team’s high-scorer having earned 18 points in two events. She came agonizingly close to pulling off the indoor short sprint double finishing runner-up in the 60-meter dash, a day after winning the NCAA 200m Championship.