T&FN’s 39th National Women’s Relay Rankings — Purdue Makes History
July 2018by Walt Murphy
Purdue (barely) lost the NCAA 4×4 at the line, but still earned enough points to become our first Big 10 winner ever. (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)
Purdue turned a nifty trick in ’18, becoming the first Big 10 school to win our National Women’s Relay Rankings in their 4 decades of existence (yes, Nebraska won the ’91 crown, but at that point was a Big 8 member). Coach Lonnie Greene’s speedy stick-carrying Boilermakers topped the ratings in the 4×2, were No. 2 in the 4×4, No. 3 in the shuttle hurdles and No. 4 in the sprint medley. It was close, as Purdue edged runner-up Villanova by just a single point, with another 2 back to Oregon, winner the last two years. Adding to Big 10 power, Indiana was next in line.
Purdue was 1 of 3 schools which scored in 4 events, being joined by Indiana and Baylor. Villanova was the only school with pair of wins, topping both the 4×8 and 4×15.
Each event (other than the shuttle hurdles, which was ranked just 5-deep and scored 5-4-3-2-1) was ranked 10-deep and scored 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. The 42 schools/teams which scored points in ’18 (with details for those in the top 10):
Place
School
Score
Events Ranked In
1.
Purdue
29
1)4 x 200; 2)4 x 400; 4)Sprint Medley; 3)4 x 110 Hurdles
2.
Villanova
28
1)4 x 800; 1)4 x 1500; 3)Distance Medley
3.
Oregon
26
3)4 x 100; 3)4 x 400; 1)Distance Medley
4.
Indiana
22
4)4 x 800; 3)4 x 1500; 10)Sprint Medley; 5)Distance Medley
=5.
Kentucky
21
4)4 x 100; 4)4 x 200; 4)4 x 400
=5.
LSU
21
1)4 x 100; 6)4 x 400; 5)Sprint Medley
=5.
Stanford
21
9)4 x 400; 1)Sprint Medley; 2)Distance Medley
8.
Baylor
20
8)4 x 200; 8)4 x 400; 6)4 x 800; 2)Sprint Medley
9.
USC
19
2)4 x 100; 1)4 x 400
10.
Virginia Tech
16
2)4 x 800; 4)Distance Medley
11. tie, Oklahoma State & Texas A&M 15; 13. Clemson 12; 14. tie, Arkansas, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Oklahoma & Tennessee 9; 19. tie, Hoka New Jersey-New York TC, Notre Dame & Texas 8; 22. Penn State 7; 23. Auburn 6; 24. tie, Alabama, Boise State, Georgia Tech & Kansas State 5; 28. tie, UConn, Iowa State, Nebraska & Ohio State 4; 32. Minnesota 3; 33. tie, Bullis HS (Potomac, Maryland), Monmouth, South Carolina & Vanderbilt 2; 37. tie, BYU, Georgetown, Indiana State, Miami, Middle Tennessee State & Penn 1.
4 x 100
Undefeated LSU was a slam-dunk No. 1, getting back to the position it held in ’15 & ’16 before surrendering it to Oregon last year… The NCAA champion foursome of Mikiah Brisco, Kortnei Johnson, Rachel Misher & Aleia Hobbs also lowered the Collegiate Record to 42.05 at the SEC and backed that up with the No. 2 time ever, 42.09, in the NCAA semis… Oregon was the NCAA runner-up ahead of USC, but the Trojans had won their two previous meetings and had a superior set of times to take No. 2… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1.
LSU
2.
USC
3.
Oregon
4.
Kentucky
5.
Auburn
6.
Alabama
7.
Texas A&M
8.
Arkansas
9.
Tennessee
10.
Miami
4 x 400
USC’s last-step victory over Purdue to win the NCAA team title will long be remembered as one of the great collegiate relay races of all time. The Trojans also beat the Boilermakers for the indoor 4×4 crown… Purdue had the most sub-3:30 times, 6, with Kentucky’s 3:25.99 at the SEC being the year’s fastest (making the Wildcats the seventh-fastest school ever)… The 8 NCAA scorers finished 1–8… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1.
USC
2.
Purdue
3.
Oregon
4.
Kentucky
5.
Florida
6.
LSU
7.
Ohio State
8.
Baylor
9.
Stanford
10.
Tennessee
4 x 1500
List leader Villanova had no trouble earning No. 1 for the third year in a row after winning Penn by a half-dozen seconds. Nicole Hutchinson anchored in 4:17.0… Three meets—Penn, Drake, National Relays—provided all the rankers with all the races held on the same date… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1.
Villanova
2.
Oklahoma State
3.
Indiana
4.
Eastern Michigan
5.
Arkansas
6.
Kansas State
7.
Iowa State
8.
Minnesota
9.
Vanderbilt
10.
Georgetown
Distance Medley
Oregon (10:51.99) and Stanford (10:52.02) staged a barnburner at the NCAA Indoor, producing the Nos. 9 & 10 collegiate performances ever. Lilli Burdon anchored the Ducks with a 4:33.67, Christina Aragon the Cardinal at 4:33.35… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1.
Oregon
2.
Stanford
3.
Villanova
4.
Virginia Tech
5.
Indiana
6.
Boise State
7.
Notre Dame
8.
Oklahoma State
9.
Eastern Michigan
10.
BYU
4 x 200
Purdue was the only team with a pair of big-meet wins, capturing the Florida & Drake titles, and also the only squad with a pair of sub-1:33 times… Oklahoma was a close No. 2, winning at Penn and losing only to a pro all-star squad at Texas… The No. 3 Longhorns didn’t contest the Texas race, but did win the National Relays title, where yearly list leader Kentucky (1:30.76) ended up 3rd… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1.
Purdue
2.
Oklahoma
3.
Texas
4.
Kentucky
5.
Tennessee
6.
Penn State
7.
Nebraska
8.
Baylor
9.
Bullis HS, Potomac, Maryland
10.
Middle Tennessee State
4 x 800
Villanova easily repeated as No. 1. The Wildcats won 3 races, including Penn with by far the year’s fastest time, 8:19.98 (the eighth-fastest collegiate time ever)… No. 3-rated HOKA was the only club team to score in any event… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams. Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1.
Villanova
2.
Virginia Tech
3.
Hoka New Jersey-New York TC
4.
Indiana
5.
Texas A&M
6.
Baylor
7.
Clemson
8.
Oklahoma State
9.
Monmouth
10.
Penn
Sprint Medley
Olivia Baker’s 2:00.90 anchor for Stanford at the National Relays propelled the Cardinal to No. 3 on the all-time collegiate list and No. 1 here… Baylor was a solid No. 2 after holding Stanford close at the National Relays and winning at Texas for 2 of the year’s 3 fastest times… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
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