NEW ORLEANS – Ole Miss women’s track & field set a new outdoor program record after opening at No. 8 in the first USTFCCCA Rating Index release of the outdoor season on Monday afternoon.
This is Rebel women’s 39th all-time appearance in the outdoor rating index, the 30th since 2016 under the supervision of eighth-year head coach Connie Price-Smith. The No. 8 slot breaks the previous women’s outdoor best of No. 15 in Week Two of 2017, and it ties for the best in the combined history of the program outdoors with a No. 8 ranking by the Rebel men in Week Five of the 2012 season.
Ole Miss currently owns 151.80 points in the Week One release, and is led by a powerful group of women’s throwers that would rank as the No. 11 program nationally all by themselves (136.65 points).
Chief among them is senior All-American and reigning NCAA Indoor weight throw champion Jalani Davis, who last weekend opened her outdoor campaign with an NCAA lead in the shot put at 17.91m/58-09.25 (38.51 points) and an NCAA No. 2 mark in the hammer at 67.82m/222-06 (31.29 points). Just by herself, Davis would rank as the No. 36 team nationally at 69.8 points combined.
Fellow All-American seniors Shey Taiwo (No. 3, 67.69m/222-01; 29.20 points) and Jasmine Mitchell (No. 7, 65.42m/214-08) give Ole Miss a fearsome hammer squad that would rank No. 27 nationally as a team by itself (80.43 points). Fellow senior thrower Tedreauna Britt is also off to a great start this outdoor season, owning a combined 17.71 points with her No. 10 mark in the shot put at 16.57m/54-04.50 (12.00 points), and her No. 16 ranking in the discus at 54.94m/180-03 (5.71 points).
Other Rebel women contributing to the record ranking are Jaiden Paris in the 100-meter hurdles at 13.40 (No. 17, 4.50 points), Sara Van Aken in the high jump at 1.76m/5-09.25 (No. 18, 4.00 points), Samara McConnell in the pole vault at 4.05m/13-03.50 (No. 20, 3.00 points), and the 4×100-meter relay of Ariyonna Augustine, McKenzie Long, Jayda Eckford and Olivia Womack at 44.79 (No. 20, 3.65 points).
The Rebel men, meanwhile, aren’t far outside the top-25 in the Week One release, currently sitting in 34th nationally. Senior hurdler Ahmad Young Jr. is leading the way so far, ranking…
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