USTFCCCA Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The West Texas A&M women's track & field program will enter the NCAA Championships ranked in the top-five for the first time in school history. The Lady Buffs come in ranked fourth in the final United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings for the outdoor season that were announced Tuesday morning. They moved up one spots and have been ranked in the top-five back-to-back weeks for the second time in program history.
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A handful of athletes competed at the Division II South Central Region Challenge hosted by WT this past Saturday and Sunday.
Norma Cunigan had the most impressive weekend with her record breaking performance in the shot put and discus. The freshman from Wills Point, Texas broke the school, freshmen, conference and facility record in the shot put with a mark of 53-1 (16.18m). She is one of two athletes to have thrown further than 16 meters this season. Just two hours later, she broke the school and freshman record in the discus unleashing a throw of 169-0 (51.52m).
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Entering the NCAA Championships, the Lady Buffs have nine athletes/relays that are ranked in the top ten in the nation including five in the top five. Norma  Cunigan and
Rellie Kaputin are both ranked second in their respective events as Kauptin is ranked second in the triple jump and Cunigan is second in the shot put. Cunigan is also ranked third in the discus while
Malika Ouedraogo is ranked No. 5 in the triple jump. The quartet of
Jasmine Pitts,
Bri Leeper,
Libby Strickland Shanice Cameron are ranked fourth in the 4x100-meter relay.
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WT is one of the three LSC teams in the rankings as Texas A&M-Kingsville stayed at No. 10 while ASU dropped seven spots to No. 25. The Lady Buffs are atop the South Central Region rankings by nearly 60 points. It is the fifth consecutive week that the LSC has had two schools ranked in the top 10.
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The Buffs are ranked 36
th in the nation and sixth in the South Central Region for the second consecutive week. Junior
Blake Whalen punched his ticket to nationals this past weekend running 30:14.01 (29:38.99a) in the 10,000-meters en route to breaking his own school record and WTAMU Track & Field Complex record.
The NCAA will announce the participants of the 2016 Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships later on today in a press release. The championships will be held on Thursday-Saturday, May 26-28, at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Follow @WTAMUTrackXC on Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and updates.
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